ZECHARIAH 


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Section  .  Z-  T"  il  ^ 


THE    PROPHET    OF    HOPE 


By  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer 


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THE 

PROPHET  OF  HOPE 

Studies  in  Zechariah 


"BY 


F.  B.   Meyer,  B.A. 

Author  of  "The  Way  into  the  Holiest,"  "Our  Daily  Homily,' 


VITA  Efr  LUX 


Chicago  New  York  Toronto 

Fleming  H.   Revell  Company 

Publithtrt  of  Evangelical  Littrature 


Copyright   1900 
By  Fleming  H.    Revell  Company 


PREFACE. 


THERE  are  several  matters  of  a  critical  nature 
which  do  not  come  within  the  scope  of  this 
book ;  such  as  the  quotations  from  it  in  the 
Gospels,  and  the  difference  in  style  between  the  earlier 
and  later  chapters.  These  are  questions  that  must 
be  discussed  before  another  audience  than  that  which 
I  address,  and  by  a  more  competent  hand. 

It  has  been  my  single  aim  to  give  the  salient  fea- 
tures and  lessons  of  each  chapter,  with  the  object  of 
alluring  the  Bible  student  to  a  more  searching  and 
careful  acquaintance  with  this  Prophet. 

Zechariah,  Haggai,  and  Malachi,  complete  the  Old 
Testament  canon — their  faces  turned  toward  the 
sunrise,  but  conscious  that  darkness  still  brooded 
deep  over  their  contemporaries.  They  remind  one 
of  the  crisp  breeze  that  awakes  a  little  before  the 
dawn,  and  announces  its  advent,  to  hush  itself  into 
silence  and  expectancy  till  the  sun  appears. 

As  one  who  has  found  spoil,  which  he  would  fain 
share,  the  author  writes  across  this  prophetic  treatise, 
Dig  here s  and  hopes  that  many  will  be  attracted  by 
Zechariah's  holy  and  eager  spirit,  through  which  God 
spake. 

The  title  of  this  little  book  lays  stress  on  one  thought 
which  pervades  the  prophecy  of  Zechariah.  He  is 
pre-eminently  the  Prophet,  as  the  Apostle  Peter  is 
the  Apostle,  of  Hope. 


J.    fh,   ;TLLct;2/u 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 
9 


I.  The  Permanence  of  God's  Words 
II.  The  Myrtle  Valley         

III.  The  Second  Vision  

IV.  The  Man  with  the  Measuring  Line 
V.  Joshua  the  Priest 

VL  The  Candlestick      

VII.  Going  Forth     

VIII.  Christ — Priest  and  King         

IX.  Fasts  Turned  to  Feasts  

X.  Good  News  for  Prisoners  of  Hope 

XI.  God's  Sowings 

XII.  The  Shepherd  of  Israel  

XIII.  The  Spirit  of  Grace  and  Supplication 

XIV.  "Things  which  must  shortly  come  to  Pass"  137 
XV.  The  Millennial  Age,  and  this       145 


17 
24 

31 
40 

50 
61 

69 

79 
91 

I02i 
114 
126 


THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

STUDIES  IN  ZECHARIAH. 


I. 

Cbe  permanence  of  6cD'6  'QClor&. 

(Zechariah  i.,  1-6.) 

The  Prophet  Zechariah  was  born  in  the  latter 
years  of  the  captivity  in  Babylon.  His  name  means 
one  whom  Jehovah  remembers.  It  was  evidently 
a  common  name  among  the  chosen  people,  as  it  is 
borne  by  several  others  in  the  course  of  Old  Testa- 
ment story.  How  good  it  is  to  be  always  sure  that 
God  thinks  of  us — even  when  we  forget  or  believe 
not !  He  remaineth  faithful.  "I  am  poor  and  needy, 
yet  the  Lord  thinketh  upon  me.  How  precious  are 
thy  thoughts  unto  me,  O  God!  How  great  is  the 
sum  of  them!  If  I  should  count  them,  they  are 
more  in  number  than  the  sand." 

Zechariah  came  of  a  priestly  family.  His  grand- 
father (Iddo)  is  expressly  mentioned  as  accom- 
panying Zerubbabel,  the  Prince  of  Judah,  and 
Joshua,  the  high  priest,  back  to  their  desolated  coun- 
try (Ezra  ii.  i,  2;  and  Neh.  xii.  4).  His  father, 
Berechiah,  probably  died  when  Zechariah  was  yet  a 

9 


lO  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

child,  and  the  boy  was  reared  by  the  grandfather; 
he  is  therefore  spoken  of  as  the  son  of  Iddo,  and 
from  the  earhest  his  young  mind  must  have  been 
imbued  with  the  traditions  and  habits  of  the  priestly 
caste. 

The  first  expedition  of  exiles,  to  which  we  have 
referred,  reached  Palestine  about  twenty  years  be- 
fore our  story  opens.  The  immense  majority  of  the 
Jews  were  too  well  circumstanced  in  the  wealthy 
land  of  their  conquerors  to  be  in  any  hurry  to  re- 
turn ;  and  only  some  fifty  thousand  souls  had  risked 
the  dangers  of  the  desert  and  the  privations  of  the 
new  settlement — but  these  would  comprise,  without 
doubt,  the  flower  of  the  race  for  piety  and  national 
pride. 

The  majority  of  the  returned  exiles  probably  be- 
took themselves  to  their  ancestral  portions  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  only  a  comparatively  small 
number  settling  among  the  charred  and  blackened 
ruins  of  Jerusalem.  The  Book  of  Lamentations  de- 
scribes, in  elegiacs  broken  with  sobs,  the  condition 
of  the  city,  as  their  forefathers  had  left  it  seventy 
years  before ;  and  that  period  of  desolation  and  waste 
must  have  still  further  added  to  the  despair  of 
the  situation. 

How  hath  the  Lord  covered  the  daughter  of  Zion  with  a 
cloud   in   his   anger ! 

He  hath  cast  down  from  heaven  unto  the  earth  the  beauty 
of    Israel, 

And  hath  not  remembered  his  footstool  in  the  day  of  his 
anger. 


THE  PERMANENCE  OF  GOD'S  V/ORD.  II 

The  Lord  hath  swallowed  up  all  the  habitations  of  Jacob, 
and  hath  not  pitied; 

He  hath  thrown  down  in  his  wrath  the  strongholds  of  the 
daughter   of  Judah; 

He  hath  burned  up  Jacob  like  a  flaming  fire; 

He  hath  violently  taken  away  his  tabernacle,  as  if  it  were 
of  a  garden; 

He  hath  destroyed  his  Place  of  Assembly  (Lam.  ii.). 

Amid  these  piles  of  blackened  ruins,  the  handful 
of  impoverished  captives  settled ;  and  for  some  time 
after  their  arrival  occupied  themselves  in  rearing 
dwellings  for  themselves,  and  in  setting  up  some  at 
least  of  those  religious  observances  of  which  for  so 
long  they  had  been  necessarily  deprived  (Ezra  iii. 
3-6).  The  foundation  of  the  new  Temple  was  laid 
shortly  afterward  amid  shouts  of  joy,  which  were 
overborne  by  the  noise  of  weeping  on  the  part  of 
those  who  had  seen  the  first  house  in  its  glory — 
"the  ancient  men." 

It  was  a  fair  dawn,  but  was  soon  overcast ;  for  the 
enemies  of  the  returned  people  set  themselves  to 
poison  the  mind  of  Artaxerxes  (Smerdis),  who, 
being  a  usurper  and  a  magician,  did  not  feel  bound 
to  respect  the  decree  of  Cyrus,  and  ordered  the 
cessation  of  the  work.  And  it  ceased  for  fifteen 
years  (Ezra  iv.).  At  the  end  of  that  time  Haggai 
the  prophet,  and  Zechariah,  the  son  of  Iddo,  began 
to  stir  their  fellow-countrymen  to  resume  their  neg- 
lected toils.  The  political  horizon  had  undergone  a 
great  change  in  the  interval;  and  there  was  every 
reason  to  hope  that  Darius,  who  had  headed  a  suc- 
cessful  conspiracy  against  the  usurping  Smerdis, 


12  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

and  had  lately  ascended  the  Persian  throne,  would 
be  favorable  to  the  purpose  of  the  Jewish  exiles, 
since  he  was  a  monotheist,  and  zealous  for  the  restor- 
ation of  pure  and  spiritual  religion.  So  it  afterward 
proved  (Ezra  v.,  vi.,  especially  7-12). 

But  the  great  difficulty  experienced  by  the 
prophets  was  with  the  Jews  themselves.  'The  time 
was  not  come,"  they  said,  ''the  time  for  the  Lord's 
house  to  be  built."  In  the  meanwhile  they  were 
living  in  ceiled  houses,  whilst  God's  house  lay 
waste. 

First  Haggai  spoke.  On  the  first  day  of  the 
sixth  month  of  the  second  year  of  Darius,  he 
pointed  to  the  disasters  beneath  which  the  country 
was  groaning,  that  the  dews  of  heaven  were  stayed 
and  the  earth  was  unproductive ;  that  a  drought  lay 
upon  the  land  and  upon  the  mountains,  upon  the  corn 
and  wine  and  oil,  upon  men  and  cattle,  and  upon  all 
the  labor  of  their  hands ;  that  they  sowed  much  and 
brought  in  little;  ate  and  had  not  enough;  drank 
and  were  not  filled ;  clothed  themselves  but  were  not 
warm;  earned  wages  which  were  dissipated  as 
though  holes  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  bag — and 
urged  that  all  these  misfortunes  were  intended  by 
God  as  a  remonstrance  against  their  laxity  and  an 
incentive  to  diligence.  "Why?"  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts.  "Because  of  my  house  that  lieth  waste,  while 
ye  run,  every  man  to  his  own  house"  (Hag.  i.  i-i  i ) . 

"Then  Zerubbabel,  the  son  of  Shealtiel,  and 
Joshua,  the  son  of  Josedech,  the  high  priest,  with  all 
the  remnant  of  the  people,  obeyed  the  voice  of  the 


THE  PERMANENCE  OF  GOD'S  WORD.  13 

Lord  their  God,  and  the  words  of  Haggai  the 
prophet,  as  the  Lord  their  God  had  sent  him,  and 
the  people  did  fear  before  the  Lord.  Then  spake 
Haggai,  the  Lord's  messenger,  in  the  Lord's  mes- 
sage unto  the  people,  saying,  I  am  with  you,  said 
the  Lord.  And  the  Lord  stirred  up  the  spirit  of 
Zerubbabel,  the  son  of  Shealtiel,  Governor  of  Judah, 
and  the  spirit  of  Joshua,  the  son  of  Josedech,  the 
high  priest,  and  the  spirit  of  all  the  remnant  of  the 
people;  and  they  came  and  did  work  in  the  house 
of  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  their  God,  in  the  four-and- 
twentieth  day  of  the  sixth  month,  in  the  second  year 
of  Darius  the  King"  (Hag.  i.  12-15). 

In  the  following  month,  the  seventh,  a  very  en- 
couraging word  came  again  through  the  mouth  of 
Haggai,  predicting  that  the  latter  glory  of  the  new 
Temple  should  even  excel  that  of  the  former  one; 
a  glory  not  of  gold  or  silver  or  precious  stones,  but 
the  spiritual  radiance  and  splendor  of  Him  who 
was  to  be  the  Desire  of  all  nations,  and  whose 
advent  was  destined  to  invest  that  building  with 
eternal  significance  and  interest  (Hag.  ii.  1-9). 

The  month  after,  "the  Word  of  the  Lord  came 
unto  Zechariah."  Probably  the  Word  of  the  Lord 
is  ever  circling  through  the  world,  as  the  waves  of 
wireless  telegraphy  through  the  air ;  but  there  needs 
an  anointed,  prepared,  and  receptive  heart  to  receive 
and  translate  the  sacred  impressions.  In  the  case 
of  the  prophets,  however,  there  would  be  more  than 
this.  They  spoke  as  they  were  moved  or  borne  along 
by  the  Holy  Spirit.    When  the  apostle  speaks  of  the 


14  .         THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

senses  being  exercised  to  discern  good  and  evil,  he 
suggests  that  to  each  sense  of  the  body  there  is  a 
corresponding  one  of  the  soul;  and  this,  like  that, 
may  become  more  or  less  acute.  Seek  after  the 
quickened,  Spirit-touched  soul-sense! 

Be  still   and   strong, 
O   Man,   my  Brother !   hold  thy   sobbing  breath, 
And  keep  thy  soul's  large  window  pure  from  wrong! 
That  so,  as  life's  appointment  issueth. 
Thy  vision  may  be  clear  to  watch  along 
The   sunset   consummation-lights   of   death! 

Zechariah  prefaces  his  prophecies  with  a  very 
tender  message.  True,  he  does  not  slur  over  the 
sins  of  the  past.  'The  Lord  hath  been  sore  dis- 
pleased with  your  fathers."  The  memory  of  that 
displeasure  was  only  too  recent,  the  signs  too  ob- 
vious; but  he  hastens  to  accentuate  the  divine  piti- 
fulness  and  tender  mercy.  "Thus  saith  the  Lord  of 
Hosts:  Return  unto  Me,  and  I  will  return  unto 
you."  There  never  yet  was  a  backslider  for  whose 
return  the  infinite  love  of  God  did  not  yearn,  and 
after  whom  it  did  not  send  messages  like  this.  In 
this  the  divine  love  exceeds  human  love.  Even  our 
Lord  could  not  depict  the  father  of  the  prodigal 
sending  messages  into  the  far  country,  where  he 
sat  among  the  swine ;  but  this  is  precisely  what  God 
does.  Can  you  not  hear  the  peal  of  the  silver  bells, 
borne  across  the  valley?  "Return!  return!"  And 
when  thou  art  yet  a  great  way  off  the  Father  will 
see  thee,  and,  being  moved  with  compassion,  will 
run  and  fall  on  thy  neck,  and  kiss  thee  much,  and 


THE  PERMANENCE  OF  GOD'S  WORD.  1 5 

reinstate  thee  where  thou  wast  at  first.  He  remem- 
bers sins  no  more. 

The  only  fear  was  lest  God  should  call  in  vain. 
"Be  ye  not  as  your  fathers,  unto  whom  the  former 
prophets  cried;  *  *  *  but  they  did  not  hear,  nor 
harken  unto  Me,  saith  the  Lord."  Though  the 
chosen  people  had  suffered  so  terribly,  there  was  a 
pitiful  possibility  of  the  obstinacy  of  the  former 
generation  reappearing  in  this.  Each  generation 
insists  on  trying  its  own  bitter  experiences,  un- 
warned by  the  experiences  of  the  preceding. 

"Your  fathers,  where  are  they?"  They  were  re- 
bellious and  sinned,  and  have  passed  away  under 
the  divine  judgments.  "And  the  prophets,  do  they 
live  forever?"  But  even  though  the  lips  that  utter 
the  divine  Word  wax  cold  in  death,  the  Word  itself 
remains;  and  it  shall  have  an  ever-abiding  force. 
"But  my  words  and  my  statutes,  which  I  commanded 
my  servants  the  prophets,  did  they  not  overtake 
your  fathers?" — as  a  foe  overtakes  the  flying  fugi- 
tive. So  much  so  as  to  extort  from  them  a  confes- 
sion of  the  righteousness  of  their  doom;  and  they 
turned  and  said,  "Like  as  the  Lord  of  Hosts  thought 
to  do  unto  us,  according  to  our  ways  and  according 
to  our  doings,  so  hath  He  dealt  with  us." 

The  conclusion  is  forcible  and  clear.  The  prophet 
may  die,  but  the  divine  word  remains.  Heaven  and 
earth  may  pass  away,  but  no  word  of  God  shall 
fail.  All  flesh  is  as  grass,  and  all  the  glory  thereof 
as  the  flower  of  grass,  more  transient  still ;  but  the 
Word  of  the  Lord  is  incorruptible,  it  liveth  and 


l6  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

abideth  forever.  The  fulfilled  predictions  of  the 
past — whether  threatenings  like  those  which  befell 
the  Jews,  or  promises  like  those  realized  in  the  ad- 
vent of  our  Lord — all  confirm  the  certainty  that 
"no  word  from  God  is  void  of  power."  Let  us  give 
the  more  earnest  heed  then  to  his  invitations,  warn- 
ings, threatenings,  and  promises,  fashioning  the 
whole  course  of  our  lives  by  them,  and  ever  remem- 
bering that  they  are  the  asseverations  of  "the  Lord 
of  Hosts." 

That  title  is  specially  applied  to  the  Divine  Being 
by  the  three  post-exilic  prophets.  It  occurs  in  this 
Introduction,  five  times  in  six  verses.  How  signifi- 
cant !  Though  the  Jews  had  seen  the  vast  hosts  of 
their  enemies  arrayed  against  them  in  battle,  or 
marshaled  in  their  own  distant  lands,  they  were 
assured  that  their  Jehovah  had  vaster  squadrons  yet ; 
and  that  all  the  powers  of  nature,  all  the  restless 
wills  of  men,  all  the  unseen  kingdoms  of  the  dead, 
and  all  the  principalities  and  powers  of  the  heaven— 
the  archangels,  angels,  seraphim  and  cherubim — 
stood  obedient  to  his  sovereign  sway,  going,  coming, 
doing  this  or  that,  as  He  chose.  Look  up,  child  of 
God !  thy  Father  is  also  the  great  King,  who  doeth 
as  He  will  "in  the  army  of  heaven,  and  among  the 
inhabitants  of  the  earth."  "Bless  the  Lord,  all  ye 
his  hosts,  ye  ministers  of  his,  that  do  his  pleasure. 
Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul !" 


11. 

(Zechariah  i.,  7-17.) 

Three  months  had  passed  since  the  preceding 
vision,  and  the  month  Sebat  had  come,  when  the 
trees  begin  to  shoot,  and  Zechariah  says,  "I  saw  by 
night."      What  did  he  see? 

If  we  may  be  allowed  to  follow  the  suggestion  of 
one  of  the  commentaries,  we  may  imagine  that  not 
far  from  the  prophet's  home  there  was  a  green  val- 
ley, or  bottom,  filled  with  graceful  myrtle  trees, 
amid  which  a  water-course  had  its  way.  Thither 
he  may  have  been  accustomed  to  resort  for  prayer, 
as  our  Lord  retired  among  the  olive  trees  outside 
Jerusalem.  It  is  conceivable  that  ever  since  the 
return  of  the  exiles  from  Babylon  he  had  paced 
this  green  glade,  pouring  out  his  heart  in  words  like 
those  which  were  afterward  uttered  by  the  Angel- 
Intercessor  :  ''O  Lord  of  Hosts,  how  long  wilt  Thou 
not  have  mercy  on  Jerusalem  and  on  the  cities  of 
Judah,  against  which  Thou  hast  had  indignation 
these  three-score  and  ten  years?"  It  is  pleasant  to 
pray  in  the  open  field  of  nature ;  the  expanse  above 
is  suggestive  of  eternity  and  unchangeableness,  and 
all  the  sounds  of  Nature's  varied  orchestra,  from 

17 


t8  the  prophet  of  hope. 

the  rustle  of  the  wind  among  the  leaves  to  the  long- 
drawn  wave-beat  on  the  sand,  are  marvelously 
adapted  to  be  an  accompaniment  to  the  voice  of 
supplication. 

There  was  a  special  significance  in  the  presence 
of  the  myrtles  which  grew  in  humble  and  fragrant 
beauty  around.  The  myrtle  was  a  native  of  Persia 
and  Assyria.  Esther's  name,  Hadassah,  meant 
myrtle.  It  was,  therefore,  significant  of  the  return 
of  the  exiles  from  the  lands  of  the  north;  and  its 
humble  beauty  was  an  appropriate  symbol  of  the 
depressed  condition  of  the  chosen  people,  who  could 
no  longer  be  compared  to  the  spreading  cedar,  or 
the  deeply-rooted  oak,  but  were  like  the  myrtle, 
which,  though  graceful  and  evergreen,  is  neverthe- 
less an  inconspicuous  and  unassuming  plant.  Many 
believers  are  as  the  myrtle.  Their  heart  is  not 
haughty,  nor  their  eyes  lofty ;  neither  do  they  exer- 
cise themselves  in  great  matters,  nor  in  things  too 
wonderful  for  them.  They  still  themselves,  as  a 
child  weaned  from  its  mother;  and  their  hope  is  in 
the  Lord  for  evermore. 

On  the  night  in  question,  which  may  have  fol- 
lowed a  day  of  unusual  exercise  of  spirit,  Zechariah 
thought  that  he  was  in  his  favorite  valley,  sur- 
rounded by  the  myrtles ;  and  behold,  in  the  midst  of 
them,  '*a  man  riding  upon  a  red  horse;  and  behind 
him"  there  was  a  group  of  companions,  mounted  on 
horses,  red,  sorrel,  and  white.  The  whole  valley 
seemed  alive  with  these  mysterious  figures.  They 
had  doubtless  been  there  whenever  the  prophet  had 


THE  MYRTLE  VALLEY.  19 

paced  to  and  fro,  or  knelt  in  intercession ;  but  never 
before  had  his  eyes  been  opened  to  see  them.  Ah! 
how  perpetually  are  our  eyes  holden,  so  that  we  do 
not  perceive  the  bands  of  God's  marshaled  angels 
gathered  to  our  succor.  The  fountain  rises  from  the 
desert  sands,  on  which  our  Ishmaels  are  dying  for 
thirst;  but  we  perceive  it  not.  The  mountains  are 
full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire;  but  we  tremble 
as  though  there  were  nothing  to  prevent  the  enemy 
making  an  end  of  us.  The  glorious  Lord  engirds 
us,  as  a  broad  river  with  its  flashing  surface  might 
encircle  a  city;  but  only  to  the  anointed  eye  is  his 
defensive  presence  made  manifest. 

Naturally  the  prophet's  curiosity  was  excited, 
and  he  sought  the  significance  of  the  heavenly 
vision.  'Then  said  I,  O  my  Lord,  what  are  these?" 
This  inquiry  was  addressed  to  a  celestial  Friend 
and  Adviser,  with  whom  Zechariah  was  in  constant 
fellowship.  He  often  alludes  to  him  as  ''the  Angel 
that  talketh  with  me"  (9,  14,  19;  iv.  i,  4,  5;  v.  5, 
10;  vi.  4).  This  celestial  visitant  must  be  dis- 
tinguished from  "the  Angel  of  the  Lord,"  referred 
to  in  verse  12,  and  who  could  be  none  other  than 
the  Angel  of  the  Covenant,  our  blessed  Lord  Him- 
self, to  whom,  also,  the  riders  gave  in  their  reports 
(10,  II). 

It  has  often  been  the  comforting  reflection  of  in- 
dividual saints  that  their  lives  were  under  the  direct 
tutelage  and  care  of  guardian  angels.  Still  God 
gives  his  angels  charge  over  us  to  keep  us.  Still  He 
sends  his  angel  before  us,  to  bring  us  into  the  place 


20  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

that  He  has  prepared.  Still  the  interpreting-angel 
talks  with  us — or,  as  Jerome  says,  zvithin  us — and 
says,  "I  will  show  thee  what  these  be." 

The  holy  soul,  which  has  its  myrtle  valley  for 
prayer,  and  has  been  accustomed  through  long  years 
to  pour  out  its  intercessions  and  supplications  before 
God,  though  it  may  have  been  with  small  response, 
is  the  one  for  whom  presently  the  veil  shall  drop 
from  the  invisible  world;  and  in  that  rapturous 
moment  the  anointed  eye  will  be  opened  to  behold 
the  ministries  of  God's  high  angels,  as  they  go  to 
and  fro  throughout  the  world  on  his  embassies; 
whilst  the  purged  ear  will  become  the  auditor  of 
their  elevated  converse  as  they  discuss  the  affairs 
of  men,  and  especially  of  those  intercessions  with 
which  Christ  pleads  for  his  own.  "The  man  that 
stood  among  the  myrtle  trees  answered  and  said, 
These  are  they  whom  the  Lord  hath  sent  to  walk  to 
and  fro  through  the  earth."  Then,  as  the  prophet 
waited  and  listened,  he  heard  the  report  which  the 
angel-scouts  handed  in  to  headquarters,  one  in  which 
they  agreed  with  perfect  unanimity:  *'We  have 
walked  to  and  fro  through  the  earth,  and,  behold,  all 
the  earth  sitteth  still,  and  is  at  rest." 

It  was  a  time  of  almost  universal  peace.  The  new 
empire  of  Cyrus  had  become  securely  settled,  and 
beneath  the  strong  rule  of  his  successors  there  was 
a  grateful  cessation  of  the  throes  and  convulsions 
which  had  ushered  in  the  fall  of  the  empire  of  the 
Chaldeans. 

But  to  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  all  surrounding 


THE  MYRTLE  VALLEY.  21 

countries  the  condition  of  the  returned  remnant  pre- 
sented a  notable  and  strange  contrast.  If  any  spot 
should  be  verdant  and  radiant,  surely  it  should 
be  the  hill  which  the  Lord  had  chosen  for  Himself; 
and  yet  it  was  desolate.  This  astounding  contrast 
elicited  from  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant  an  earnest 
entreaty  that  God  would  show  Himself  strong  on 
behalf  of  those  whom  He  had  brought  back  from 
the  land  of  the  enemy.  *'He  answered  (as  though 
He  were  speaking  to  the  prophet's  thoughts)  and 
said,  O  Lord  of  Hosts,  how  long  wilt  Thou  not 
have  mercy  on  Jerusalem  and  on  the  cities  of 
Judah?" 

This  is  a  beautiful  glimpse  of  the  intercessions 
which  emanate  from  our  Lord's  unchangeable  Mel- 
chizedek  priesthood.  The  believer  having  viewed 
Him  in  his  Aaronic  ministry,  by  which  He  put  away 
sin  through  the  sacrifice  of  Himself,  derives  great 
comfort  from  considering  Him  as  a  Priest  forever 
after  the  order  of  Melchizedek;  having  no  begin- 
ning of  days  nor  end  of  life,  but  abiding  a  Priest  con- 
tinually, and  ever  living  to  make  intercession  in  the 
heavenly  temple  for  his  people.  "Simon,  Simon, 
Satan  hath  desired  to  have  you,  that  he  may  sift  you 
as  wheat;  but  I  have  prayed  for  thee."  What  un- 
told benefit  accrues  to  us  from  his  ceaseless  and 
prevalent  prayers! 

"And  the  Lord  (i.  c,  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant) 
answered  the  angel  that  talked  with  me  with  good 
words  and  comfortable  words."  It  was  as  though 
the  Father  had  heard  and  answered  the  pleadings 


22  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

of  the  Son,  and  returned  Him  an  answer,  which 
he  passed  on  to  Zechariah's  angel-guide;  and  then 
the  prophet  in  turn  was  bidden  proclaim  them  with 
the  urgency  and  insistence  of  a  cry:  "Thus  said 
the  Lord  of  Hosts :  I  am  jealous  for  Jerusalem  and 
for  Zion  with  a  great  jealousy." 

More  disclosures  of  God's  will  followed ;  that  He 
was  displeased  with  the  nations,  who  had  gone  be- 
yond his  commission;  that  He  had  returned  to  Je- 
rusalem with  great  mercies;  that  the  holy  house 
should  be  built  again;  that  the  line  of  the  builder 
should  be  stretched  again  over  Jerusalem;  that  the 
cities  of  Judah  were  his  cities,  which  should  yet  be 
spread  forth  in  prosperity;  that  the  Lord  should 
yet  comfort  Zion  and  choose  Jerusalem. 

Zechariah  awoke;  and,  behold,  it  was  a  dream. 
But  was  it  not  more?  Did  he  not  visit  that  valley 
at  daybreak  with  new  and  awful  wonder?  And 
did  not  the  people,  when  they  heard  what  he  had 
seen,  and  the  message  which  had  been  communi- 
cated to  them,  pluck  up  new  courage  to  prosecute 
toils?  If  God  was  with  them,  who  could  stand 
against  them?  If  angels  were  encamping  round 
Jerusalem,  how  inevitable  would  be  her  resurrec- 
tion from  encumbering  ruin!  The  return  of  God 
to  his  city  meant  her  return  to  the  beauty  that  had 
attracted  the  wonder  and  jealousy  of  the  world  (Psa. 
xlviii.). 

These  words  may  come  under  the  eye  of  some  who 
have  sighed  and  cried  over  the  desolations  of  the 
house  of  God,  whether  of  the  universal  Church,  or 


THE  MYRTLE  VALLEY.  23 

of  some  beloved  sphere  of  labor,  on  which  they  seem 
to  have  expended  prayers  and  tears  in  vain.  Have 
such  waited  for  fifteeen  years  as  Zechariah  did? 
Have  they  had  their  myrtle  grove  of  supplication? 
Have  they  remained  steadfast  and  unmoved  amid 
universal  surrounding  declension?  If  they  could 
hear  the  good  and  comfortable  words  that  are  being 
spoken,  how  glad  and  thankful  they  would  be !  For 
when  men  and  women  pray  like  this,  they  do  but 
echo  the  prayer  of  the  great  Intercessor  yonder,  and 
their  prayer  is  the  sure  precursor  of  the  return  of 
God  to  his  heritage  with  great  mercy.  Whenever 
God  lays  the  state  of  his  Church  on  the  hearts  of  his 
people,  so  that  they  travail  in  birth  for  it,  a  power- 
ful revival  of  his  work  is  at  hand. 

Are  you,  my  reader,  desolate  through  the  pressure 
of  long-continued  sorrow?  God's  chastenings  have 
been  greatly  exaggerated  by  those  who  have  helped 
forward  the  affliction.  What  was  once  a  busy  scene 
of  active  service  is  waste;  your  home  is  desolate; 
your  heart  sad.  Yet,  be  of  good  cheer!  There  is 
One  that  ever  liveth  to  intercede.  Jesus  has  graven 
you  upon  the  palms  of  his  hands.  Your  sad  lot  is 
ever  before  Him.  He  will  yet  talk  with  you  with 
good  words  and  comfortable  ones.  'Turn" — they 
are  his  own  words — "O  backsliding  children;  for  I 
am  married  unto  you,  saith  the  Lord."  "I  will  heal 
their  backsliding,  I  will  love  them  freely;  for  mine 
anger  is  turned  away."  ''He  is  able  to  save  them  to 
the  uttermost  that  come  unto  God  by  Him,  seeing  He 
ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them." 


III. 

Cbc  SeconD  \)ieion. 

(Zechariah  i.  18-21.) 

The  next  vision  was  full  of  comfort.  The  good 
words  and  comfortable  words  of  the  previous  chap- 
ter are  continued,  like  the  long-drawn-out  sweetness 
of  a  lullaby. 

As  the  little  group  of  returned  exiles  looked  nerv- 
ously out  on  the  mighty  world-empires,  which  sur- 
rounded and  threatened  them,  they  were  filled  with 
alarm.  How  could  they  cope  with  them?  There 
were  Bishlam,  Mithredath,  Tabeel,  and  the  rest  of 
their  companions,  of  the  nations  whom  Nebuchad- 
nezzar had  settled  in  Samaria;  Rehum  the  chancel- 
lor, and  Shimshai  the  scribe,  so  ready  in  their  use  of 
the  pen  to  exert  influence  on  the  great  kings  beyond 
the  river,  to  make  the  work  of  temple-building  cease ; 
and  the  reactionary  influences  at  work  in  the  far-dis- 
tant court,  always  adverse  to  the  resuscitation  of  a 
subdued  nation,  like  the  Jews,  which  had  given  such 
proofs  of  inevitable  independence.  Beneath  the  ir- 
resistible pressure  of  these  hostile  forces  the  work  of 
temple-building  had  already  ceased  for  fifteen  years, 
and  there  was  every  fear  that  the  new  resolve  to  arise 
and  build  would  meet  with  similar  opposition  and  a 

24 


THE  SECOND  VISION.  25 

similar  fate.  There  was  singular  appropriateness, 
therefore,  in  the  prophet's  vision :  'Then  lifted  I  up 
mine  eyes,  and  saw,  and,  behold,  four  horns." 

In  the  language  of  a  pastoral  people  like  the  Jews, 
the  horn  naturally  represents  the  pride  and  power  of 
the  ravager  and  oppressor  of  the  flock.  The  Divine 
Shepherd  is  heard  from  the  very  horns  of  the  wild 
oxen  (Psalm  xxii.  21) ;  and  Daniel  speaks  of  the 
horn  which  made  war  with  the  saints  and  overcame 
them,  until  the  Ancient  of  Days  came.  The  wild 
fury  of  man  against  the  people  of  God  is  aptly  de- 
scribed by  the  irruption  of  a  herd  of  tusked  boars,  by 
the  charge  of  the  rhinoceros,  or  the  rush  of  the  wild 
ox  on  a  harmless,  defenceless  flock,  which  has  no 
power  of  resistance,  but  only  of  flight. 

The  number  four  reminds  us  of  the  cardinal  points 
of  the  compass,  and  indicates  that,  wherever  the  peo- 
ple turned,  there  were  foes,  which  were  sworn  to  re- 
sist their  attempt  to  renew  their  national  life.  On 
the  north,  Chaldea,  Assyria,  and  Samaria;  on  the 
south,  Egypt  and  Arabia ;  on  the  west,  Philistia ;  and 
on  the  east,  Ammon  and  Moab.  And  it  is  probable 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  looked  beyond  these  to  the 
four  Gentile  monarchies,  which  have  occupied,  and 
still  occupy,  the  'Times  of  the  Gentiles,"  and  which 
were  represented  in  the  four  metals  of  Daniel's 
vision,  or  in  the  four  great  beasts,  which  one  after 
another  emerged  from  the  sea. 

As  yet  Babylon  and  Medo-Persia  alone  had 
arisen;  Greece  and  Rome,  the  latter  including  the 
kingdoms  of  modern  Europe,  were  to  come;  but  all 


26  THE  PROP  HE  T  OF  HOPE. 

were  included  in  this  one  comprehensive  glance  at 
the  kings  of  the  earth,  which  set  themselves,  and  the 
rulers  who  took  counsel  together,  against  the  Lord 
and  against  His  Anointed,  saying : 

Let  us  break  their  bands  asunder 
And  cast  away  their  cords  from  us. 

We  must  not  forget  that  God  Himself  gave  these 
world-powers  their  authority.  He  says,  in  Isaiah, 
"I  was  wroth  with  my  people;  I  profaned  mine  in- 
heritance, and  gave  them  into  thine  hand"  (Isa. 
xlvii.  6,  y).  And  in  Daniel  He  lifts  the  veil  and 
shows  that  the  world-rulers  represent  not  flesh  and 
blood  merely,  but  malign  and  mighty  spirits  that 
actuate  and  inspire  them  (Dan.  x.  13-20).  As  long 
as  God's  people  are  perfect  in  their  loyalty  and  obed- 
ience towards  Him,  they  need  fear  the  power  of  no 
adversary  whatsoever ;  but  when  there  is  a  break  in 
the  holy  connection  which  binds  Him  and  them  in  an 
inviolable  safety,  it  seems  as  though  all  the  forces  of 
evil  are  set  free  to  bear  down  on  and  ravage  them, 
until  their  chastisement  is  completed,  and  they  re- 
turn to  their  first  love. 

If  we  were  asked  to  name  the  four  horns  which 
are  ravaging  the  Church  in  the  present  day,  we 
should  not  hesitate  to  say  that  they  are  Priestcraft, 
Worldliness,  Christian  Science,  and  Spiritualism. 

Priestcraft,  which  substitutes  the  priest  for  the  liv- 
ing Saviour ;  rites  for  faith ;  and  the  sacrifice  of  the 
Mass  for  that  once  offered  and  finished  on  the  cross ; 
and  which  is  corrupting  and  undermining,  by  the 


THE  SECOND  VISION.  27 

accursed  system  of  the  confessional,  the  home-life  of 
our  country,  as  it  has  that  of  every  nation  which  has 
fallen  under  its  blighting  scourge. 

Worldliness,  to  which  our  Lord  alludes  in  his  de- 
scription of  the  lusts,  the  strong  desires  for  other 
things,  which  enter  into  competition  with  the  seed 
sown  in  our  hearts,  and  make  it  unfruitful. 

Christian  Science,  which,  under  the  specious  use 
of  Christian  terms,  really  eviscerates  Christianity  of 
its  essential  doctrines,  making  sin  an  illusion  and  its 
penalty  a  mortal  dream ;  denying  the  Atonement,  and 
the  true  nature  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  teaching  men  to 
look  on  sin,  sickness,  and  death,  as  matters  of  wrong 
thinking  rather  than  wrong  being  and  doing. 

Spiritualism,  which  reduces  Christ  to  the  level  of 
a  medium,  and  works  lying  wonders  by  the  aid  of 
seducing  spirits. 

As  we  look  on  these  and  kindred  evils  which  are 
just  now  invading  and  ravaging  the  professing 
Church,  we  may  v/ell  adopt  the  words  of  the  prophet : 
"And  I  said  unto  the  Angel  that  talketh  with  me, 
What  are  these?  And  he  answered  me.  These  are 
the  horns  which  have  scattered  Judah,  Israel,  and 
Jerusalem." 

In  every  life  there  are  similar  experiences.  Some- 
times, when  we  lift  up  our  eyes,  we  find  ourselves 
begirt  with  opposition  and  threatened  by  hostile  pow- 
ers. Think  of  the  martyr-host  who  have  witnessed 
for  God  in  every  age,  and  who  could  reiterate  the 
words  of  the  greatest  Sufferer  of  all,  "Many  bulls 


28  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

have  compassed  Me,  strong  bulls  of  Bashan  have 
beset  Me  round  about ;  they  gape  upon  Me  with  their 
mouth  as  a  ravening  and  a  roaring  lion."  Ignatius, 
who  complains  that  his  custodians  were  like  "ten 
leopards,  who  only  wax  worse  when  they  are  kindly 
treated";  Blandina,  the  girl  slave;  Germanicus,  the 
noble  youth;  the  Waldenses,  whose  wrongs  roused 
Cromw^ell's  wrath  and  Milton's  muse;  the  Nether- 
lands, in  their  long  conflict  with  Philip,  when  the 
leaders  saw  their  homes  covered  again  by  the  ocean 
from  which  their  ancestors  had  redeemed  them; 
Madame  Guyon,  beset  by  husband,  mother-in-law, 
servants  and  priests;  Samuel  Rutherford,  and  hun- 
dreds of  his  time,  harried  by  the  fiercest  and  most 
insatiable  hate;  William  Tyndale,  the  celebrated 
translator  of  the  English  Bible ;  John  G.  Paton,  beset 
with  savages — these  are  specimens  of  a  multitude, 
which  no  man  can  number,  of  every  nation,  and  kin- 
dred, and  people,  who  have  seen  the  vision  of  the 
four  horns. 

But  there  is  something  beyond;  and  surely  it  is 
not  without  significance  that  the  prophet  says :  "The 
Lord  showed  me  four  carpenters"  (or  smiths,  r.v.). 
We  have  no  difficulty  in  decrying  the  sources  of 
alarm  for  ourselves ;  but  we  need  a  Divine  Hand  to 
reveal  our  assured  deliverance.  "And  Elisha  prayed 
and  said :  Lord,  I  pray  Thee  open  his  eyes,  that  he 
may  see.  And  the  Lord  opened  the  eyes  of  the 
young  man  and  he  saw;  and,  behold,  the  mountain 
was  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  round  about 
Elisha." 


THE  SECOND  VISION.  29 

For  Babylon,  the  "carpenter"  was  Cyrus ;  for  Per- 
sia, Alexander;  for  Greece,  the  Roman;  for  Rome, 
the  Gaul.  Very  different  from  each  other,  very  ruth- 
less and  unsparing;  but  very  well  adapted  for  their 
work.  Commenting  on  this  passage,  the  late  C.  H. 
Spurgeon  said :  ''He  who  wants  to  open  an  oyster 
must  not  use  a  razor;  for  some  works  there  needs 
less  of  daintiness  and  more  of  force;  Providence 
does  not  find  clerks,  or  architects,  or  gentlemen,  to 
cut  off  horns,  but  carpenters.  The  work  needs  a  man 
who,  when  he  has  work  to  do,  puts  his  whole 
strength  into  it,  and  beats  away  with  his  hammer,  or 
cuts  through  the  wood  that  lies  before  him  with 
might  and  main.  Let  us  not  fear  for  the  cause  of 
God;  when  the  horns  become  too  troublesome,  the 
carpenters  will  be  forthcoming  to  fray  them." 

Remember  how  in  every  age  He  has  found  his  ap- 
propriate messenger.  Athanasius  frayed  Arianism, 
and  Augustine,  Manichaeism;  Luther  frayed  the 
power  of  the  Pope  in  Germnay,  as  did  Hugh 
Latimer  in  England ;  Wesley  and  Whitefield  frayed 
the  religious  indifference  of  the  last  century.  When 
Haldane  went  to  Geneva,  he  frayed  the  scepticism 
which  was  destroying  the  Helvetian  and  Gallic 
Churches.  The  Lord  knows  where  to  find  his  serv- 
ants, and  when  the  predestined  hour  strikes,  there 
will  stand  the  workman  ready.  "These  are  the  horns 
which  have  scattered  Judah,  so  that  no  man  did  lift 
up  his  head ;  but  these  are  come  to  fray  them,  to  cast 
down  the  horns  of  the  nations  which  lifted  up  their 
horn  against  the  land  of  Judah  to  scatter  it." 


30  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

O  child  of  God !  there  have  been  many  horns  en- 
gaged in  scattering  thee.  Year  after  year  they  have 
wrought  sad  havoc  in  thy  plans,  and  cost  thee  bitter 
tears.  But  thine  Almighty  Friend  is  greatly  dis- 
pleased that  they  have  hurt  thee  more  than  his  pur- 
poses of  chastisement  required,  and  He  has  resolved 
that  they  shall  be  frayed.  He  is  well  able  to  do  this ; 
for  He  hath  sworn  that  no  weapon  which  is  formed 
against  thee  shall  prosper,  and  that  every  tongue 
which  shall  rise  in  judgment  against  thee  shall  be 
condemned.  Since  the  discipline  has  fulfilled  its 
purpose,  it  shall  be  stayed ;  since  the  refining  fire  has 
purged  out  the  dross,  it  shall  lie  down ;  since  the  win- 
nowing fan  has  purged  the  chaff  from  the  wheat,  the 
grain  shall  no  longer  be  tossed  in  the  breeze.  Com- 
fort ye,  comfort  ye,  saith  thy  God.  'Tor  a  small 
moment  have  I  forsaken  thee;  but  with  great  mer- 
cies will  I  gather  thee.  In  overflowing  wrath  I  hid 
my  face  from  thee  for  a  moment;  but  with  ever- 
lasting kindness  will  I  have  mercy  on  thee,  saith  the 
Lord  thy  Redeemer." 


IV. 

tTbe  ^an  witb  tbe  /iBeasurfng  Xinc. 

(Zechariah  ii.) 

A  third  vision  was  granted  to  Zechariah.  '1 
lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and  saw,  and,  behold,  a  man  with 
a  measuring  line  in  his  hand." 

It  was  natural  enough.  We  dream  of  what  occu- 
pies our  waking  thoughts;  and  probably  Jerusalem 
was  full  of  surveyors,  engaged  in  mapping  out  the 
new  streets  and  walls. 

Some  feeble  attempts  had  already  been  made 
towards  rebuilding ;  but  as  yet  the  ancient  sites  were 
principally  distinguished  by  blackened  walls  and 
heaps  of  ruins.  The  walls  of  the  city,  especially,  re- 
sembled the  rubble  of  a  quarry.  At  last,  however, 
the  national  pride  was  awakening  the  common  inter- 
est of  citizens  for  their  city,  of  patriots  for  their 
fatherland ;  and  the  young  man  with  the  measuring- 
line  in  his  hand  was  the  fitting  embodiment  of  this 
new  spirit  which  was  breathing  throughout  the  na- 
tion. 

"Then  said  I,  Whither  goest  thou  ?  And  he  said 
unto  me,  'To  measure  Jerusalem.,  to  see  what  is  the 
breadth  thereof,  and  what  is  the  length  thereof."  It 
was  as  though  he  were  defining  the  limits  of  the 

31 


32  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

future  city,  indicating  the  direction  the  walls  should 
take,  and  where  they  should  stay.  ''Thus  far,"  he 
kept  saying  to  himself.  "The  city  will  never  get 
beyond  this  boundary  line.  Grow  as  it  may,  it  will 
never  exceed  this."  How  apt  we  are  to  do  this.  We 
are  all  given  to  forecasting  the  future,  and  place  lim- 
its, which  God  has  never  designed,  on  the  growth  of 
the  City  of  God. 

The  Sacrament  avian  comes  with  his  measuring 
line,  and  insists  that  Baptism,  however  administered, 
and  by  whomsoever,  is  the  limit ;  and  that  all  the  bap- 
tized, Protestants,  Roman  Catholics,  or  of  the  Greek 
Church,  are  included  in  God's  City;  but  he  refuses 
to  include  the  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  or 
the  adherent  of  the  Salvation  Army.  Slightly  modi- 
fying the  ancient  challenge,  he  says,  ''Except  ye  be 
baptized,  ye  cannot  be  saved." 

The  Pessimist  comes  with  his  measuring  line,  and 
draws  the  plan  of  the  City  within  the  narrowest  pos- 
sible boundaries.  He  justifies  his  forecast  by  quot- 
ing such  a  text  as  "Fear  not,  little  Hock" ;  or  "Strait 
is  the  gate  and  narrow  is  the  way  that  leadeth  unto 
life,  and  few  there  be  that  find  it."  Sometimes  he 
fears  that  he  will  not  enter ;  at  other  times  he  doubts 
all  others  but  himself.  It  may  be  that  depression  of 
spirit,  or  long  removal  from  contact  with  the  mani- 
fold activities  of  God  in  the  world,  induce  these  mor- 
bid views — as  with  Elijah,  who  thought  that  he  only 
was  left. 

The  Bigot  comes  with  his  measuring  line  and  in- 
sists that  the  City  walls  must  coincide  with  his  shib- 


MAN  WITH  THE  MEASURING  LINE.  33 

boleth,  and  follow  the  tracings  of  his  creed.  We 
have  known  men  much  given  to  splitting  hairs,  and 
making  minute  and  often  imaginary  distinctions, 
who  have  excommunicated  all  who  did  not  exactly 
agree  with  them.  Very  narrow  is  the  enclosure  they 
mark  out  for  future  populations,  and  very  scant  their 
acreage  of  the  Holy  City. 

The  Experimentalist  is  apt  to  refuse  to  consider  as 
Christians  those  who  have  not  experienced  exactly 
the  same  doubts,  fears,  ecstacies,  deliverances,  and 
cleansings,  which  he  himself  has  felt.  Before  a  man 
may  be  included  in  his  city,  he  must  have  gone 
through  a  series  of  defined  and  successive  steps  or 
chambers  in  the  divine  life. 

The  Universalist  goes  to  the  other  extreme,  and 
practically  builds  his  walls  around  the  entire  race  of 
man,  including  within  their  circumference  every 
member  of  the  human  family. 

It  is  not  for  us  to  fix  the  boundaries,  or  insist  on 
our  conceptions.  These  are  secret  things  which  be- 
long to  the  Lord  our  God.  On  the  one  hand,  He 
only  knows  if  those  who  call  themselves  and  are  con- 
sidered Christians  are  really  so;  and  He  only  can 
detect  the  seven  thousand  who  have  not  bowed  the 
knee  to  Baal  or  kissed  his  image.  *'Lord,"  said  the 
apostles  on  one  occasion,  "are  there  few  that  be 
saved?"  And  the  Master  made  answer,  as  though 
to  turn  away  their  inquiry,  "Strive  ye  to  enter  in." 
It  is  not  for  us  to  measure  the  city,  but  to  be  sure 
that  we  have  entered  in." 

"Run,"  said  another  angel  to  the  prophet's  angel- 


34  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

guide,  "speak  to  this  young  man  {i.e.,  who  had  the 
measuring  line)  saying,  Jerusalem  shall  be  inhabited 
as  villages  without  walls,  by  reason  of  the  multitude 
of  men  and  cattle  therein."  It  was  useless  to  mark 
out  boundaries,  because  the  city  was  destined  to  ex- 
ceed all  ordinary  dimensions,  and  become  so  great 
that  no  walls  would  be  capable  of  containing  or  keep- 
ing pace  with  it.  The  mighty  populations  that  would 
congregate  at  that  sacred  center  would  overflow  all 
limitations,  as  London  had  radiated  to  every  point  of 
the  compass  beyond  the  narrow  enclosure  of  its 
ancient  walls.  It  is  hard  to  imagine  the  time  when 
our  own  metropolis  was  contained  between  London 
Wall  and  the  Thames. 

So  shall  it  be  with  the  saved.  We  have  no  right  to 
include  in  their  ranks  any  who  know  not  God,  and 
obey  not  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  who  have 
loved  darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds 
were  evil.  But  apart  from  these,  these  will  be  a  mul- 
titude which  no  man  can  number,  out  of  every  na- 
tion and  of  all  tribes,  and  peoples,  and  tongues;  as 
stars  in  the  midnight  sky,  or  the  sand-grains  on  the 
seashore;  enough  to  compensate  for  the  travail  of 
the  Redeemer's  soul,  and  to  satisfy  the  yearning  love 
of  God.  But  here  an  objection  might  be  raised.  If 
the  Holy  City  was  to  be  without  walls,  would  it  not 
be  open  to  every  assailant  ?  What  would  there  be  to 
afford  a  cover  for  the  soldier,  or  hinder  the  advance 
of  the  spoiler?  Supposing  that  the  enemy  should 
say,  *T  will  go  up  to  the  land  of  unwalled  villages ; 
I  will  go  to  them  that  are  at  quiet,  that  dwell  se- 


MAN  WITH  THE  MEASURING  LINE.  35 

curely,  all  of  them  dwelling  without  walls,  and  hav- 
ing neither  bars  nor  gates ;  to  take  the  spoil,  and  to 
take  the  prey"(  Ezek.  xxxviii.  ii)!  How  then 
would  Israel  fare?  No  sooner  is  the  suggestion 
made  than  it  is  met.  "I,  saith  the  Lord,  will  be  unto 
her  a  wall  of  fire  round  about,  and  I  will  be  the  glory 
in  the  midst  of  her."  The  image  is  probably  bor- 
rowed from  the  camp-fires  with  which  hunters  sur- 
round themselves  at  night  to  scare  off  the  beasts  of 
prey.  Imagine  what  that  means !  Just  as  no  pesti- 
lence, and  certainly  no  intruder,  could  break  through 
a  cordon  of  flame,  so  the  unseen  but  almighty  pres- 
ence of  God  would  be  a  bulwark  on  which  all  the 
powers  of  earth  and  hell  would  break  to  their  own 
undoing. 

This  is  what  every  congregation  of  believers  may 
perpetually  enjoy.  They  may  be  situated  in  the 
midst  of  the  ancient  civilization  of  China,  or  the  rude 
heathenism  of  West  Africa;  no  walls  of  wealth,  or 
worldly  influence,  or  prestige  may  engird  them ;  but 
they  will  be  absolutely  safe,  because  that  cordon  of 
Divine  and  inviolable  protection  will  enclose  them  on 
every  side.  God  will  be  to  them  all  that  walls  can  be, 
and  more.  Indeed,  it  is  better  to  dwell  in  an  unde- 
fended, un walled  city;  because  we  are  made  more 
conscious  of,  and  more  dependent  upon,  the  environ- 
ing presence  of  the  Eternal.  Surely,  the  same 
thought  was  in  the  apostle's  mind  when  he  gloried 
and  took  pleasure  in  weaknesses,  injuries,  necessi- 
ties, persecutions,  distresses  for  Christ's  sake;  be- 
cause, when  he  was  weak,  then  he  was  strong. 


36  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

Are  you  like  an  unwalled  town,  with  nothing  be- 
tween you  and  the  attacks  of  poverty,  misfortune, 
godless  fellow- workmen,  and  false  brethren?  Do 
not  lose  heart !  you  may  yet  dwell  within  the  devour- 
ing fire  of  God's  presence,  and  be  surrounded  by  the 
everlasting  burnings  of  his  protection  (Isa.  xxxiii. 
14) .  He  hath  declared :  "No  weapon  that  is  formed 
against  thee  shall  prosper;  and  every  tongue  that 
shall  rise  in  judgment  against  thee  thou  shalt  con- 
demn." Such  an  one  may  well  exclaim  with  David, 
"I  will  not  be  afraid  of  ten  thousands  of  the  people 
that  have  set  themselves  against  me  round  about; 
for  Thou,  Lord,  art  a  Shield  for  me,  my  glory,  and 
the  Lifter  up  of  mine  head."  Remember  to  realize 
God  as  between  you  and  everything.  Some  put  cir- 
cumstances between  them  and  God ;  it  is  far  wiser  to 
put  God  between  oneself  and  circumstances.  Yes, 
we  are  as  safe,  stretched  on  the  bare  earth  with  no 
covering  but  the  fall  of  night,  as  when  engirt  by  mas- 
sive walls  and  palace  doors.  Nay,  it  is  even  a  blessed 
thing  to  be  deprived  of  all  that  men  are  so  prone  to 
magnify,  that  we  may  be  thrown  back  absolutely  on 
God.  We  never  discover  how  much  He  can  be  to  the 
soul  until  we  have  no  other  resource. 

Three  appeals  follow: — One  to  the  exiles  (6,  7). 
There  were  still  vast  numbers  of  Jews  in  Babylon, 
and  to  these  an  earnest  invitation  was  addressed : 
"Ho,  ho,  flee  from  the  land  of  the  north,  saith  the 
Lord;  for  I  have  spread  you  abroad  as  the  four 
winds  of  the  heaven,  saith  the  Lord!  Ho,  Zion, 
escape  thou  that  dwellest  with  the  daughter  of  Baby- 


MAN  WITH  THE  MEASURING  LINE.  37 

Ion !"  And  this  invitation  was  backed  by  two  con- 
siderations. On  the  one  hand,  safety  is  assured  to 
them  if  they  return.  God  would  be  as  quick  to  pro- 
tect them  as  a  man  to  raise  his  arm  when  injury  is 
threatened  to  his  eye.  On  the  other  hand,  they  are 
warned  of  the  certain  danger  they  incur  by  lingering 
in  Babylon.  God  was  already  shaking  his  hand  over 
that  guilty  city,  as  a  signal  to  the  nations  she  had 
oppressed  to  gather  to  her  overthrow,  and  to  share 
her  spoils. 

Ah,  Christian  soul,  art  thou  still  sojourning  in 
Babylon,  conforming  to  the  conventions  of  the 
world,  molded  by  the  spirit  of  the  age?  Heed  the 
Divine  summons  to  arise  and  depart.  This  cannot  be 
thy  rest.  And  flatter  not  thyself  that  thou  canst  do 
as  the  world  does,  and  yet  enjoy  immunity  from  its 
destruction.  The  conquering  troops  would  make  no 
nice  distinctions  between  Jews  and  Babylonians,  but 
would  slay  indiscriminately;  and  the  recoil  of  nat- 
ural law,  violated  by  the  professing  Christian,  will  be 
as  sharp  and  inevitable  as  on  those  who  do  not  as- 
sume to  be  other  than  men  of  the  world.  Thou  may- 
est  be  a  child  of  God ;  but  if  this  do  not  prevent  thee 
from  behaving  as  a  child  of  this  world,  it  will  not 
prevent  thee  from  suffering  as  the  children  of  this 
world  suffer  when  inevitable  retribution  befalls. 

How  comforting  it  is  to  know  that  our  souls  are  as 
safe  and  dear  to  God  as  the  apple  of  his  eye!  for 
there  is  no  part  of  the  body  so  safely  guarded  as  the 
eye.  The  strong  frontal  bones,  the  brow  or  eyelash 
to  intercept  the  dust,  the  lid  to  protect  from  scorch- 


38  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

ing  glare,  the  sensitive  tear-glands  incessantly  pour- 
ing their  crystal  tides  over  its  surface — what  a 
wealth  of  delicate  machinery  for  its  safety  and 
health !  We  have  all  these  in  God.  He  is  always  on 
the  alert  to  warn,  defend,  and  cleanse  us.  "I,  the 
Lord,  do  keep  it;  I  will  water  it  every  moment! 
Lest  any  hurt  it,  I  will  keep  it  night  and  day." 

An  Appeal  to  Zion  (lo).  The  daughter  of  Zion 
might  be  a  scattered  remnant,  settled  amid  the  black- 
ened ruins  of  the  city ;  but  she  might  well  sing  and 
rejoice,  since  God  declared  his  willingness  to  come 
and  share  her  humble  lot,  helping  her  children 
in  their  toils,  and  attracting  many  nations  to 
Himself.  ''Lo,  I  come,  and  I  will  dwell  in 
the  midst  of  thee,  saith  the  Lord."  She  might 
well  dispense  with  walls  and  bulwarks,  with 
splendid  buildings  and  holy  fanes,  since  God 
was  in  the  midst  of  her.  When  the  tabernacle 
of  God  is  with  men,  and  He  dwells  with  them,  wip- 
ing away  all  tears,  there  is  neither  mourning  nor  cry- 
ing nor  tears ;  but  the  mouth  is  filled  with  laughter, 
and  the  tongue  with  singing.  Sometimes  the  Chris- 
tian gets  a  vision  of  this.  He  realizes  that  since  God 
has  come  into  the  midst  of  his  work,  it  is  no  longer 
his,  but  God's ;  he  is  only  the  agent  and  errand-lad. 
God  comforts  and  teaches  the  people;  God  restores 
the  ruins ;  God  builds  the  walls  of  Jerusalem ;  God 
does  good  in  his  good  pleasure  to  Zion ;  God  attracts 
the  people,  who  join  themselves  not  to  a  congrega- 
tion, a  church,  or  a  minister,  but  to  the  Lord,  and  be- 


MAN  WITH  THE  MEASURING  LINE.  39 

come  liis.    He  is  not  only  a  wall  of  fire  round  about, 
but  the  glory  in  the  midst. 

An  Appeal  to  all  Flesh  (13).  In  the  bold  imag- 
ery of  Scripture,  God  is  sometimes  represented  as 
sleeping  (not  that  there  is  any  weariness  or  indiffer- 
ence in  the  Divine  nature,  for  He  that  keeps  us 
neither  slumbers  nor  sleeps),  but  to  account  for  his 
apparent  apathy.  Such  times  are  always  those  in 
which  Zion  herself  slumbers  in  Sleepy  Hollow. 
There  never  can  be  any  change  in  his  power  or  ten- 
derness; but  the  exertion  of  his  energy  is  often  ar- 
rested through  the  indifference  and  unbelief  of  his 
people. 

When  the  Church  awakes  to  repentance,  humilia- 
tion, and  prayer,  God  is  said  to  awake.  The  stir 
among  the  restored  exiles,  in  consequence  of  the 
preaching  of  Zechariah  and  Haggai,  is  here  de- 
scribed his  awakening — not,  however,  that  He  had 
ever  slept. 

When  God  arouses  Himself,  let  all  flesh  be  silent 
before  Him.  Let  there  be  the  silence  of  reverence, 
of  eager  expectancy,  of  humble  obedience,  of  wistful 
desire.  ''Be  silent,  O  all  flesh,  before  the  Lord :  for 
He  is  raised  up  out  of  His  holy  habitation."  "My 
soul,  be  silent  unto  God,  for  my  expectation  is  from 
Him." 


V. 

505bua  tbe  priest. 

(Zechariah  iii.) 

We  learn  from  the  Book  of  Ezra  (ii.  36-39)  that 
among  the  exiles  who  returned  with  Zerubbabel 
from  Babylon,  were  Joshua  or  Jeshua,  and  4,289 
priests.  But  they  were  in  a  sorry  plight,  their  char- 
acter is  described  by  the  prophet  Malachi ;  and  it  was 
in  sad  contrast,  as  he  suggests,  to  the  original  type  of 
the  priesthood  represented  in  Phinehas. 

They  despised  God's  name.  Without  scruple  they 
offered  on  his  altar  the  lame,  the  blind,  and  the  sick. 
They  said  that  the  table  of  the  Lord  was  polluted, 
and  the  fruit  thereof,  even  his  meat,  contemptible. 
They  did  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that  the  routine  of 
Levitical  service  was  a  weariness ;  and  they  snuffed 
at  it,  and  brought  that  which  was  taken  by  violence, 
or  the  lame  and  the  sick.  They  had  turned  aside  out 
of  the  way  themselves,  and  had  caused  many  to 
stumble  in  the  law.  From  these  disgraceful  charac- 
teristics the  prophet  turned  to  paint,  with  a  few  bold 
touches,  the  noble  priest  whose  burning  zeal  for  the 
honor  of  God  averted  his  wrath  from  the  people,  and 
secured  for  himself  and  his  seed  after  him  the  cov- 
enant of  an  everlasting  priesthood  (Num.  xxv. 
10-13).  40 


JOSHUA   THE  PRIEST.  41 

*'My  covenant  was  with  him,"  the  Spirit  of  God 
declares,  "of  Hfe  and  peace;  and  I  gave  them  to  him 
that  he  might  fear :  and  he  feared  Me,  and  stood  in 
awe  of  my  name.  The  law  of  truth  was  in  his 
mouth,  and  unrighteousness  was  not  found  in  his 
lips;  he  walked  with  Me  in  peace  and  uprightness, 
and  did  turn  many  away  from  iniquity"  (Mai.  ii. 
5,6). 

As  a  judgment  on  the  priesthood,  the  whole  body 
had  fallen  under  great  reproach :  "Therefore  have  I 
also  made  you  contemptible  and  base  before  all  the 
people,  according  as  ye  have  not  kept  my  ways" 
(Mai.  ii.  9). 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe,  also,  that  the  reg- 
ulations for  the  maintenance  of  the  priesthood  by  the 
people  had  fallen  into  disuse ;  so  that  they  had  neither 
robes,  nor  vessels,  nor  the  proper  equipment  required 
for  the  stately  ceremonial  of  the  House  of  God.  Un- 
der such  conditions  there  was  great  propriety  in 
Zechariah's  vision  of  Joshua,  the  high  priest,  and  his 
fellows  that  sat  before  him :  "And  He  showed  me 
Joshua  the  high  priest,  standing  before  the  Angel  of 
the  Lord.  .  .  .  Now  Joshua  was  clothed  with  filthy 
garments  and  stood  before  the  Angel."  There  was 
no  mitre  on  his  head,  no  insignia  of  exalted  office  on 
his  person;  whilst  his  disheveled  robes  told  the  sad 
story  of  neglect.  The  description  at  least  reflected 
the  general  conception  entertained  of  the  priesthood ; 
and  the  question  may  even  have  been  raised  as  to 
whether  there  was  any  use  in  rebuilding  the  temple 
while  the  officiating  ministers  were  so  unworthy  of 
their  high  calling. 


42  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

There  have  been  times  in  the  past  when  the  lead- 
ers of  various  branches  of  the  professing  Church 
might  have  been  described  in  similar  terms;  when 
the  services  of  God's  House  have  been  performed  in 
a  slovenly  and  perfunctory  manner ;  when  the  relig- 
ious instincts  of  the  people  have  been  subordinated  to 
the  sport,  pleasure  and  material  advantages,  of  their 
religious  teachers ;  when  services  have  been  without 
decorum,  prayers  without  reverence,  music  without 
taste,  buildings  in  such  repair  as  would  not  for  a 
moment  be  tolerated  in  our  homes — everywhere  dirt, 
cobwebs,  neglect.  Such  a  condition  of  things  may 
still  be  described  as  the  robing  of  the  priestly  caste 
in  filthy  garments. 

But  is  there  not  another  and  deeper  meaning  in 
these  words?  Recall  the  Angel's  words:  ''Hear 
now,  O  Joshua,  the  high  priest,  thou  and  thy  fellows 
that  sit  before  thee;  for  they  are  men  which  are  a 
sign."  May  not  this  mean  that  they  represent  all 
who  have  been  made  priests  unto  God,  called  "to 
offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices  acceptable  to  God  by 
Jesus  Christ"?  (i  Peter  ii.  5).  Are  there  not  times 
in  our  lives  when  we  feel  unfit  to  render  that  sacred 
service?  It  may  be  at  the  hour  of  evening  prayer, 
when  the  household  is  assembling ;  but  we  hesitate  to 
open  the  sacred  Word,  or  engage  in  prayer,  because 
something  has  gone  amiss  during  the  preceding 
hours,  which  has  soiled  the  heart  and  ruffled  the  in- 
ward peace.  It  may  be,  as  we  take  our  wonted  seat 
in  the  House  of  God  on  the  morning  of  God's  day, 
and  there  flashes  across  us  the  memory  of  habits  in- 


JOSHUA  THE  PRIEST.  43 

dulged,  practices  sanctioned,  methods  of  making 
money  pursued,  which  are  unworthy  of  our  Chris- 
tian profession;  and  again  our  hearts  condemn  us. 
Or,  as  we  ascend  the  pulpit,  take  our  class,  mingle 
with  our  fellow-workers,  we  remember  outbursts  of 
irritability,  proud  and  vainglorious  thoughts,  words 
and  deeds  of  senseless  folly;  and  we  feel  the  incon- 
gruity of  standing  up  as  God's  messengers  between 
the  living  and  the  dead.  At  all  such  times  we  are, 
like  Joshua,  clothed  in  filthy  garments. 

The  sense  of  shame  becomes  more  acute  when  we 
stand  before  the  Angel  of  the  Lord.  ''He  showed  me 
Joshua,  the  high  priest,  standing  before  the  Angel  of 
the  Lord."  In  the  world's  twilight  much  may  pass 
muster  which,  in  the  light  of  that  sweet,  pure  face, 
must  be  utterly  condemned.  Garments  which  served 
us  well  enough  in  the  short,  dark  winter  days  are 
laid  aside  when  spring  arrives ;  they  will  not  bear  the 
searching  scrutiny  of  the  light.  In  the  ordinary  life 
of  our  homes,  we  are  less  particular  of  our  attire 
than  when,  on  some  special  occasion,  we  have  to  un- 
dergo the  inspection  of  stranger  eyes.  Thus  we  are 
prone  to  compare  ourselves  with  ourselves,  or  with 
others,  and  to  argue  that  the  habit  of  our  soul  is  not 
specially  defiled.  Alas !  we  reason  thus  in  the  dark. 
But  when  the  white  light  of  the  throne  of  God  breaks 
on  us,  we  cry  with  Job:  'Tf  I  wash  myself  with 
snow-water,  and  make  my  hands  never  so  clean,  yet 
wilt  Thou  plunge  me  in  the  ditch,  and  mine  own 
clothes  shall  abhor  me." 

Joshua  must  have  felt  much  as  Isaiah  did,  when  he 


44  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

was  passing  through  the  supreme  crisis  of  his  Hfe. 
Prophet  though  he  were,  admired  and  beloved  by  the 
good,  hated  by  the  bad,  when  he  beheld  the  Lord  sit- 
ting on  his  high  and  exalted  throne,  the  cry  of  soul- 
anguish  was  extorted  from  him :  "Woe  is  me,  for  I 
am  undone."  He  was  probably  the  last  man  in  Israel 
who  would  have  been  deemed  capable  of  such  a  con- 
fession ;  yet  he  was  the  first  to  make  it.  The  greatest 
saints  are  they  who,  like  Augustine,  write  confes- 
sions. The  larger  the  sphere  of  light,  the  wider  the 
circumference  of  darkness.  The  more  we  know  of 
God,  the  more  we  loathe  ourselves  and  repent. 

What  is  to  be  done  under  such  circumstances? 
Renounce  our  priesthood?  Disclaim  its  God-given 
functions  ?  No  :  remain  standing  before  the  Angel. 
He  knows  all — we  need  not  shrink  from  his  search- 
ing eyes — but  He  loves  infinitely.  He  has  power  to 
make  our  iniquity  pass  from  us,  and  clothe  us  with 
change  of  raiment — that  white  linen  which  is  the 
righteousness  of  saints. 

It  is  at  such  moments,  however,  that  our  great 
adversary  puts  forth  his  worst  insinuations.  "Satan 
standing  at  his  right  hand  to  be  his  adversary." 
Since  he  was  cast  out  of  his  first  estate,  he  has  been 
'the  antagonist  of  God,  the  hater  of  good,  and  the 
accuser  of  the  brethren.  He  discovers  the  weak 
spots  in  character,  and  thrusts  at  them;  the  secret 
defects  of  the  saints,  and  proclaims  them  upon  the 
housetops;  the  least  symptom  of  disloyalty,  incon- 
stancy, and  mixture  of  motive,  and  flaunts  it  before 
God's  angels.    He  is  keen  as  steel,  and  cruel  as  hell 


JOSHUA  THE  PRIEST.  45 

Ah,  it  is  awful  to  think  with  w^hat  implacability  he 
rages  against  us ! 

When  we  pray,  he  is  quick  to  detect  the  wandering 
thought,  the  mechanical  repetition  of  well-worn 
phrases,  the  flagging  fervor.  With  a  sneer,  he  says, 
''Dost  thou  hear  that?  Is  not  this  the  voice  of  one 
whom  Thou  hast  redeemed?" 

When  we  work  for  God,  he  is  keen  to  notice  our 
desire  to  dazzle  our  fellows,  to  secure  name  and 
fame,  to  use  the  cross  as  a  ladder  for  our  own  exalta- 
tion instead  of  our  Master's.  ''Is  this,"  he  hisses, 
"the  kind  of  service  which  thy  chosen  servants  offer 
Thee?" 

When  we  approach  the  Lord's  table,  and  our 
hearts  are  cold  in  the  very  presence  of  that  mystery 
of  Love,  he  claps  his  hands  in  glee,  and  takes  care  to 
taunt  the  Bridegroom  with  the  irresponsiveness  and 
coolness  of  the  Bride.  And  Christ  suffers  much.  He 
had  noticed  all  this;  but  who  cares  to  be  accosted 
with  that  which  is  already  gnawing  at  your  heart  ? 

And  when,  like  Job,  we  do  bear  trial  patiently  and 
nobly,  the  great  adversary  suggests  that  we  do  it 
from  a  selfish  motive — "Doth  Job  serve  God  for 
naught?" 

Satan  cannot  reach  the  Son  of  God  now,  save 
through  the  members  of  his  Body ;  but  he  misses  no 
opportunity  of  thrusting  at  Him,  as  he  accuses  them. 

Let  lis  now  turn  to  notice  the  intervention  and  an- 
swer of  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant.  It  is  spon- 
taneous and  unsought.  Before  Joshua  had  time  to 
say,  "Shelter  me,"  his  faithful  Friend  and  Advocate 


46  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

had  cast  around  him  the  assurance  of  His  Protection, 
and  had  silenced  the  adversary.  The  Lord  rebuke 
thee,  O  Satan.  As  the  Aaronic  Priest,  He  died ;  but, 
as  the  Melchizedek  Priest,  He  ever  hves  to  make  in- 
tercession on  our  behalf;  and  as  the  torpedoes  of  the 
enemy  are  launched  against  us,  He  catches  them  in 
the  net  of  his  Intercession,  and  makes  them  power- 
less to  hurt.  Before  we  call,  He  answers.  Before 
we  realize  the  strong  and  cunning  charges  accumu- 
lated against  us.  He  has  rebutted  them.  In  the  same 
breath  in  which  the  Master  told  Peter  that  Satan  had 
sought  to  sift  him  as  wheat.  He  told  him  that  He  had 
prayed  for  him. 

It  is  founded  on  electing  grace.  For  He  says: 
"The  Lord  that  hath  chosen  Jerusalem  rebuke  thee." 
Before  ever  He  chose  her.  He  must  have  foreseen  all 
that  she  would  become,  her  backslidings  and  re- 
bellions, her  filthy  garments,  her  wounds  and  bruises 
and  putrefying  sores;  but,  notwithstanding  all.  He 
set  His  heart  upon  her.  Surely,  then.  He  would  not 
abandon  her  because  of  anything  that  her  adversary 
might  rake  up  to  her  discredit.  He  knew  the  worst 
about  her  before  He  chose  her  as  His  own ;  nothing 
could  happen  that  had  not  been  well  considered  in  the 
white  light  of  eternity.  Satan  could  allege  nothing 
which  the  Advocate  had  not  weighed  in  the  balances 
of  his  Divine  prescience.  He  had  realized  the  very 
worst  before  making  his  final  choice. 

These  are  foundation  thoughts,  on  which  we  rest 
the  structure  of  our  hopes.  When  we  are  most 
agonized  at  the  memory  of  recent  failure,  most  dis- 


JOSHUA  THE  PRIEST.  47 

tressed  as  we  weigh  and  consider  the  cruelty  and 
meanness  of  our  selfish  actions,  most  ashamed  for 
the  vileness  and  inveteracy  of  our  impure  and  unholy 
passions,  we  can  only  turn  to  those  passages  which 
assure  us  that  we  were  chosen  in  Christ  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world,  and  that  he  had  predes- 
tinated those  whom  he  foreknew.  For  God  to  reject 
us  now  would  be  a  reflection  on  His  ominpotence. 
Yes,  thou  great  adversary,  thou  canst  not  tell  our 
Lord  worse  things  about  us  than  He  knows;  and 
notwithstanding  all,  He  loves,  and  will  love. 

Moreover,  it  has  already  done  too  much  to  go 
hack.  The  point  of  the  metaphor  which  follows  is 
very  reassuring.  "Is  not  this  a  brand  plucked  out  of 
the  fire?"  You  have  been  writing  all  the  morning 
at  your  desk,  answering  letters,  assorting  papers  and 
manuscripts,  destroying  much  that  there  was  no  need 
to  keep.  After  two  or  three  hours  of  work,  there  is 
a  heap  of  papers  which  you  wish  to  destroy,  and  you 
place  them  in  your  stove  or  fireplace,  the  fire  kindles 
on  them,  and  they  begin  to  blaze.  Suddenly,  to  your 
dismay,  you  remember  that  there  was  a  cheque  or 
note  among  them,  or  a  letter  with  an  address,  or  a 
paper  which  has  cost  you  hours  of  work.  As  quick 
as  thought  you  rush  to  the  kindling  flames,  and 
snatch  away  the  paper,  and  attempt  to  stay  the  gnaw- 
ing edge  of  flame.  But  what  an  appearance  the 
paper  suggests !  It  is  yellow  with  smoke,  charred 
and  brittle  round  the  edges,  scorched  and  hot,  here 
and  there  are  gaps — it  is  a  brand  plucked  out  of  the 
fire.    Would  you  have  snatched  it  out  if  you  had  not 


48  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

valued  it  ?  And,  after  you  have  taken  such  pains  to 
rescue  it,  is  it  Hkely  that  you  will  thrust  it  back  to 
destruction?  And  v^ould  Jehovah  have  snatched 
Israel  out  of  Babylon,  and  expended  so  much  time 
and  care  over  her,  if  at  the  end  He  meant  to  destroy 
her  ?  The  fact  of  his  having  done  so  much,  not  only 
proved  his  love,  but  implied  its  continuance. 

What  depths  of  consolation  are  here !  As  v^e  look 
back  on  our  lives,  we  become  aware  of  the  narrow- 
ness of  our  escape  from  dangers  which  overwhelmed 
others.  We  have  been  involved  in  companionships 
and  practices  which  have  ruined  others  irretrievably ; 
but  somehow,  though  we  are  charred  and  blackened, 
we  have  escaped  the  ultimate  results.  We  have  been 
plucked  out  of  the  burning.  What  can  we  infer 
from  so  gracious  an  interposition,  except  that  we 
have  been  preserved  for  some  high  and  useful  pur- 
pose; and  that  God  will  yet  make  use  of  us  for  His 
kingdom  and  glory,  in  spite  of  all  that  Satan  may 
say  or  do  on  the  other  side — and  this  because  He 
sees,  what  Satan  cannot  see,  the  bitterness  of  our  re- 
pentance, the  poignancy  of  our  grief,  and  the  sincere 
desire  of  our  hearts  yet  to  serve  Him,  before  we  go 
hence. 

Manoah's  wife  was  perfectly  justified  in  meeting 
the  fears  of  her  timorous  husband  by  saying,  "If  the 
Lord  were  pleased  to  kill  us,  He  would  not  have  told 
us  such  things  as  these."  All  the  past  is  an  argument 
for  faith.  God  resembles  an  investor  who  has  sunk 
so  much  in  an  undertaking  that,  though  it  has  hith- 
erto proved  unprofitable,  he  dare  not  abandon  it;  he 


JOSHUA  THE  PRIEST,  49 

is  bound  to  go  on  until  the  scale  turns,  and  it  begins 
to  pay — then  he  will  be  abundantly  recouped.  Has 
God  snatched  you  from  destruction,  from  the  jaws 
of  the  lion,  and  the  mouth  of  hell  ?  It  is  a  proof  that 
He  will  perfect  what  concerneth  you.  Let  Satan  try 
his  worst,  God  cannot  deny  Himself.  He  does  not 
say,  Yea,  yea;  nay,  nay.  ''Whom  He  called,  them 
He  also  justified ;  and  whom  He  justified,  them  He 
also  glorified.  What  then  shall  we  say  to  these 
things  ?    If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us !" 


VI. 
^be  Can2>Iedtick. 

(Zechariah  iv.) 

On  their  return  from  Babylon  the  Jews  were  con- 
fronted with  immense  difficulties  arising  from  the 
opposition  of  their  neighbors,  their  want  of  re- 
sources, and  the  incompetence  of  their  leaders.  The 
last  was  probably  their  most  serious  difficulty. 
Joshua  was  clothed  with  filthy  garments,  and  Zerub- 
babel  had  faltered  in  his  attempt  to  rear  the  Temple. 
His  hands  had  laid  the  foundation,  but,  after  a  brief 
effort,  they  had  fallen  paralyzed  by  his  side.  Royal 
blood  was  in  his  veins,  but  he  sadly  lacked  the  energy 
and  faith  of  the  princes  of  his  line.  The  rebuilding 
of  the  Temple  had  been  greatly  hindered,  and  for 
some  time  had  been  entirely  suspended;  and,  all 
around,  the  heaped-up  ruins  and  unused  materials 
showed  how  much  needed  to  be  done.  The  suspicion 
may  have  suggested  itself,  and  spread  from  lip  to  lip, 
that  there  could  be  no  improvement,  no  hope  of  ad- 
vance, while  Zerubbabel  was  to  lead. 

These  difficulties  and  forebodings  rose  like  a 
mountain  range  between  the  returned  exiles  and  the 
accomplishment  of  their  purpose.  Not  more  abso- 
lutely do  the  Himalayas,  which  seem  like  a  vision  of 

50 


THE  CANDLESTICK.  51 

clouds  to  dwellers  on  the  plains  of  India,  wall  out 
invasions  and  bar  the  northern  route,  than  did  these 
tremendous  obstacles  rear  themselves  before  the  re- 
turned remnant. 

It  was  at  this  juncture,  and  to  reassure  them,  that 
the  Angel  that  talked  with  Zechariah  came  again, 
and  waked  him,  as  a  man  that  is  wakened  out  of  his 
sleep.  He  did  not  minimize  the  greatness  of  the  dis- 
couragements, but  he  brought  a  message  of  hope. 
Even  though  Zerubbabel  might  lack  the  essentials  of 
a  great  leader,  yet  the  success  of  their  undertaking 
did  not  depend  upon  him,  but  on  the  Divine  power, 
which  was  working  through  him  to  achieve  the  Di- 
vine purpose.  "Then  he  answered  and  spake  unto 
me,  saying,  This  is  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto  Zerub- 
babel, saying,  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by 
my  spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  Who  art  thou,  O 
great  mountain?  Before  Zerubbabel  thou  shalt  be- 
come a  plain  :  and  He  shall  bring  forth  the  headstone 
with  shoutings  of  Grace,  Grace  unto  it." 

In  the  most  express  and  unmistakable  terms 
Zechariah  was  further  assured  that  God  would  cer- 
tainly fulfill  his  word  through  this  scion  of  David's 
house.  ''Moreover,  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
me,  saying.  The  hands  of  Zerubbabel  have  laid  the 
foundations  of  this  house ;  his  hands  shall  also  finish 
it."  With  what  new  pleasure  the  prophet  would 
contemplate  the  state  of  the  Temple  area;  and,  the 
day  of  small  things,  as  it  undoubtedly  was.  With 
what  new  fortitude  he  would  bear  the  adverse  criti- 
cisms of  the  old  men  who  had  seen  the  glory  of  the 


52  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

former  house,  and  were  loth  to  believe  that  anything 
could  come  of  beginnings  so  feeble  and  delayed !  He 
could  already  see  the  Prince  of  Judah,  standing  in 
the  sunny  air,  plummet  and  trowel  in  hand,  fixing 
the  capstone  in  its  place,  amid  the  enthusiastic  shouts 
of  the  people.  Better  than  all,  he  could  see  the  eyes 
of  God,  seven  in  number,  because  of  their  perfection, 
which  run  to  and  fro  throughout  the  whole  earth,  re- 
joicing as  they  beheld  the  plummet  in  his  hand.  We 
pause  here  for  a  moment  to  absorb  the  sweetness  of 
the  suggestion,  that  God  delights  in  his  people's 
work  for  Him,  and  joins  his  congratulations  with 
theirs,  when  the  crown  is  placed  on  their  labors. 

In  order  to  make  God's  meaning  clearer,  the 
prophet  was  granted  the  vision  of  the  candlestick 
(lamp-stand),  the  gist  of  which  was  that  the  wick, 
though  necessary  to  the  light,  played  a  very  incon- 
siderable part  in  its  production.  It  had  no  illum- 
inating power;  it  could  only  smoke,  and  char,  and 
smoulder.  At  the  best,  it  could  only  be  a  medium 
between  the  oil  in  the  cistern  and  the  fire  that  burned 
on  its  serried  edge.  Thus  Zerubbabel  might  be  weak 
and  flexible  as  a  wick,  but  none  of  his  deficiencies 
could  hinder  him  finishing  the  work  to  which  he  had 
been  called,  if  only  his  spirit  was  kindled  with  the 
Divine  fire,  and  fed  continually  by  the  gracious  in- 
fluences of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  candlestick,  which  Zechariah  beheld  in  pro- 
phetic ecstacy,  was  evidently  fashioned  on  the  model 
of  that  in  the  Temple,  the  shape  of  which  is  still  pre- 
served to  us  on  the  Arch  of  Titus.    At  the  top  there 


THE  CANDLESTICK.  53 

was  a  large  bowl  or  cistern  filled  with  the  golden  oil, 
in  which  the  wicks  of  the  lamps  were  dipped,  and 
which  stole  up  their  texture  to  burn  for  the  light  of 
all  that  were  in  the  house.  The  branches  radiated 
from  a  central  stem  to  the  seven  lamps.  According 
to  the  Revised  Version,  there  v/ere  seven  pipes  to 
each  lamp,  and  therefore  forty-nine  in  all.  Nor  was 
this  all.  On  either  side  of  this  massive  candlestick 
stood  an  olive-tree,  from  the  heart  of  which,  by  a 
golden  pipe,  the  oil  was  continually  being  poured 
into  the  reservoir;  so  that  even  though  it  might  be 
limited  in  its  containing  power,  there  could  be  no 
failure  in  its  ability  to  meet  the  incessant  demands  of 
its  lamps. 

So  far  as  the  Jews  were  concerned,  the  meaning  of 
the  vision  was  obvious.  They  were  represented  in 
the  candlestick,  of  which  the  many  lamps  and  the 
precious  metal  of  its  composition  set  forth  their  per- 
fection and  preciousness  in  the  thought  of  God. 
Their  function  was  to  shed  the  light  of  his  knowl- 
edge on  the  world,  as  it  lay  under  the  power  of  dark- 
ness; while,  to  aid  them  in  fulfilling  this  mission 
Divine  supplies  would  be  forthcoming  from  a  celes- 
tial and  living  source,  and  brought  to  them  through 
the  golden  pipes,  of  which  one  represented  Joshua 
the  priest,  and  the  other  Zerubbabel  the  prince. 
These  men,  therefore,  were  but  mediums  for  Divine 
communications.  Their  sufficiency  was  not  of  them- 
selves, but  of  God.  The  mission  of  Israel  would  be 
realized  not  by  them,  but  by  the  Spirit  of  God 
through  them.    They  might  seem  altogether  helpless 


54  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

and  inadequate ;  but  a  living  fountain  of  oil  was  pre- 
pared to  furnish  them  with  inexhaustible  supplies. 

For  us,  too,  this  vision  is  full  of  teaching,  encour- 
agement, and  admonition,  to  which  we  would  do 
well  if  we  pay  heed. 

The  first  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Revelation,  which 
compares  the  work  of  the  Church  during  the  present 
age  to  seven  light-bringing  candlesticks,  suggests 
the  application  of  this  vision  of  Zechariah's  to  our- 
selves. As  yet  dawn  has  not  broken;  darkness  en- 
velops the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  peoples. 
But  God  has  called  his  people,  in  the  meanwhile,  to 
"shine  as  lights  in  the  world,  holding  forth  the  word 
of  life."  Let  us  recognize  the  important  work  to 
which  God  has  called  us;  and  whether  it  be  as  the 
household  candle,  the  street  lamp,  or  the  gleam  of  the 
lighthouse,  let  us  beware  of  hiding  our  light  under 
a  bushel,  lest  men  stumble  to  their  destruction.  The 
lights  of  a  dark  night  seldom  receive  their  meed  of 
notice  or  gratitude;  but  how  could  we  do  without 
them  ?  And  though  the  children  of  this  world  rarely 
recognize  their  indebtedness  to  the  Christian  Church, 
they  would  be  in  a  sorry  plight  if  it  were  not  for  its 
three-fold  beam  of  faith,  hope,  and  love. 

The  golden  bowl  filled  with  oil  is  an  eloquent  sym- 
bol of  the  relationship  of  our  Redeemer  to  his  people. 
"It  hath  pleased  the  Father  that  in  Him  should  all 
fullness  dwell."  The  fullness  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
always  at  high-water  mark  within  his  glorious  na- 
ture. It  is  not  possible  to  imagine  any  aspect  of 
Holy  Ghost  fullness  which  is  not  embraced  and  in- 


THE  CANDLESTICK.  55 

eluded  in  our  glorious  Lord ;  and  there  is  no  quality 
needed  for  the  outshining  of  Christian  character 
which  is  not  richly  stored  in  Him ;  He  is  "the  fullness 
of  the  God-head  bodily."  His  the  spirit  of  wisdom 
and  understanding;  his  the  spirit  of  counsel  and 
might ;  his  the  spirit  of  understanding  and  of  the  fear 
of  the  Lord ;  and  He  "is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and 
righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption." 
Press  this  thought  to  your  heart,  child  of  God,  and 
dwell  on  it — that  in  Christ  are  hidden  all  the  treas- 
ures of  wisdom  and  knowledge;  He  is  the  ocean- 
basin  of  God's  infinite  resources,  that  we  may  forever 
draw  on  his  stores,  and  be  replenished  from  his  full- 
ness with  grace  upon  grace. 

It  was  explained  to  Zechariah  that  the  olive  trees 
on  either  side  of  the  candlestick  were  the  two  sons  of 
oil  that  stand  by  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth.  If,  in 
its  primary  significance,  this  figure  indicated  the 
royal  and  priestly  elements  of  the  Jewish  national 
life,  in  our  case  it  signifies  the  royal  priesthood  of 
our  Lord  and  of  us  His  people.  He  is  a  Priest  upon 
His  throne.  He  is  a  Priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of 
Melchizedek,  who  was  King  of  Salem  as  well  as 
Priest  of  the  Most  High  God.  Had  He  been  only 
our  Aaron,  He  would  have  made  peace  between  God 
and  us  by  the  shedding  of  blood,  and  have  gone  into 
the  Holy  of  Holies  to  intercede ;  but  the  veil  would 
have  fallen  intact  behind  Him,  and  He  would  have 
had  no  power  to  introduce  us  into  the  Most  Holy 
Place,  and  maintain  us  there.  He  would  not  have 
been  able  to  communicate  a  royal  and  victorious  life. 


56  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

which  defies  the  power  of  sin,  and  goes  forth  to  con- 
quer in  eternal  vigor  and  beauty.  Christ  is  King  as 
well  as  Priest ;  and  therefore  He  not  only  brings  us 
nigh  to  God,  but  makes  us  sit  with  Him  in  the 
heavenlies  of  his  eternal  supremacy. 

Yes,  friend,  we  may  be  but  as  wicks,  with  no  pith 
or  power  of  our  own,  smoking,  charring,  burning 
out ;  unnoticed  amid  the  flame  we  yield ;  unrewarded 
and  unthanked;  pieces  of  coarse  tow.  But  let  us 
keep  saturated  in  the  fullness  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus, 
let  us  abide  in  Him,  let  us  dip  deep  into  the  well  of 
His  supplies;  so  shall  the  quality  of  His  glorious 
nature  yield  itself  up  through  us  to  the  illumination 
of  men. 

It  is  easy  to  see  what  comfort  this  vision  brought 
to  the  handful  of  exiles  amid  those  blackened  ruins. 
It  seemed  as  though  mountain  ranges  of  difficulty 
stood  between  them  and  the  accomplishment  of  their 
great  undertaking.  But  now  they  learned  that  at  the 
best  they  were  only  the  channels  and  instruments; 
and  that  God  was  prepared  to  accomplish  the  results 
they  sought.  It  was  not  to  be  by  their  might,  nor 
power,  but  by  his  Spirit,  pouring  into  and  through 
them  with  inexhaustible  fullness,  as  the  oil  poured 
into  and  through  the  golden  pipes  from  the  two  olive 
trees. 

We  are  often  menaced  by  apparently  insurmount- 
able difficulties,  which  extort  from  us  the  groan,  "O 
great  mountain !"  At  other  times  we  are  oppressed 
with  a  sense  of  our  impotence,  and  of  the  weight 
and  weariness  of  life.    How  can  we  be  always  good  ? 


THE  CANDLESTICK.  57 

How  obey  the  heavenly  vision  ?  How  last  ?  We  are 
told  that  Daniel  continued  unto  the  first  year  of 
Cyrus.  Ah,  this  patient  endurance  and  continuance 
in  well-doing!  If  we  are  to  live  for  twenty,  thirty, 
or  fifty  years  from  now,  in  a  world  in  which  the 
shocks,  perils,  and  demands  will  certainly  not  dimin- 
ish as  the  coming  of  the  Bridegroom  draws  nigh, 
shall  we  be  able  to  endure  to  the  end  ?  Will  not  the 
lamp  expire  before  the  gust  which  shall  precede  the 
gray  dawn  of  Advent?  The, outward  man  decays; 
will  the  inward  man  be  always  renewed  ? 

These  thoughts  attracted  me  to  a  conversation 
with  the  wick  of  my  lamp.  For  long  it  had  served 
my  purpose,  silently  ministering  as  I  read  beside  it. 
I  felt  ashamed  that  I  had  not  before  noticed  its  unob- 
trusive ministry.    I  said  to  the  wick  : — 

"For  the  service  of  many  months  I  thank  thee." 

"What  have  I  done  for  thee?" 

"Hast  thou  not  given  light  upon  my  page?" 

"Indeed,  no;  I  have  no  light  to  give,  in  proof 
whereof  take  me  from  my  bath  of  oil,  and  see  how 
quickly  I  expire.  Thou  wilt  soon  turn  from  me,  as  a 
piece  of  smoking  tow.  It  is  not  I  that  burn,  but  the 
oil  with  which  my  texture  is  saturated.  It  is  this 
that  lights  thee.  As  for  me,  I  simply  mediate  be- 
tween the  oil  in  the  cistern  and  the  fire  on  my  edge. 
See  this  blackened  edge.  It  slowly  decays,  but  the 
light  continually  burns." 

"Dost  thou  never  fear  becoming  exhausted  ?  See 
how  many  inches  of  coil  remain !    Wilt  thou  be  able 


58  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

to  give  light  till  every  inch  of  this  is  slowly  charred 
and  cut  away?'' 

"1  have  no  fear  so  long  as  the  supply  of  oil  does 
not  fail,  if  only  some  kindly  hand  will  remove,  from 
time  to  time,  the  charred  margin,  trimming  me,  and 
exposing  a  fresh  edge  to  the  flame.  This  is  my  two- 
fold need :  oil  and  trimming.  Give  me  these,  and  I 
shall  burn  to  the  end." 

'1  thank  thee,  gentle  teacher,"  I  said,  as  I  turned 
away;  ''thou  hast  greatly  encouraged  me.  I,  too, 
shall  endure,  so  long  as  I  abide  in  Him,  in  whom 
God  has  stored  the  measureless  residue  of  the  Spirit ; 
and  so  long  also  as  the  Divine  hand,  with  delicate 
thoughtfulness,  uses  the  golden  snuffers,  removing 
the  debris  and  decay,  pruning  that  I  may  bear  fruit ; 
piercing  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit, 
that  I  may  enter  into  his  rest." 

Some  among  us  appear  to  think  that  the  soul  can 
accumulate  a  stock  of  grace,  in  a  sacrament,  a  con- 
vention, or  a  night  of  prayer.  But  this  is  at  variance 
with  the  teaching  of  the  wick.  It  accumulates  noth- 
ing. It  has  no  stores.  From  hour  to  hour  it  is  al- 
ways on  the  edge  of  bankruptcy,  but  always  supplied. 
So  should  we  live — at  every  moment  giving  all  we 
have,  but  never  doubting  about  the  supplies  of  the 
future.  Bear  pain  for  one  moment  at  a  time ;  there 
is  patience  enough  in  Jesus  for  the  next  moment. 
Do  your  Christian  work  with  as  much  energy  as 
though  each  service  were  your  last.  You  cannot 
exhaust  God;  and  your  work  is  to  be,  not  in  your 
might  or  power,  but  by  his  Spirit. 


THE  CANDLESTICK.  59 

Moment  by  moment  I'm  kept  in  his  love; 
Moment  by  moment,  I've  life  from  above; 
Looking   to   Jesus !    till    glory   doth    shine,  . 
Moment  by  moment,   O   Lord,   I   am   thine. 

There  is  also  a  warning  for  us  all  implied  in  this 
vision,  to  wliich  Vv^e  must  give  heed.  We  must  very 
carefully  abide  in  Christ,  that  He  may  abide  in  us; 
always  recognizing  his  royalty,  which  calls  for 
obedience ;  always  resting  upon  his  priesthood,  which 
reconciles  us  to  God.  In  obedience  and  faith  the 
bond  of  fellowship  is  perpetually  maintained  and 
strengthened.  Every  time  we  do  as  our  Prince  bids, 
though  it  contradicts  the  strongest  desires  of  our 
nature ;  every  time  we  resort  to  our  Priest — there  is 
an  accentuation  of  that  fellowship  which  draws  his 
nature  into  ours. 

Forgive  me  if  I  return  to  this  thought  again  and 
again.  It  has  become  so  precious  an  emblem  of  my 
relationship  with  my  Lord,  to  think  of  the  union  be- 
tween the  wick  and  the  limitless  supplies  of  the  olive 
tree.  Hour  after  hour  the  oil  climbs  up  the  wick  to 
the  flame,  and  thus  insensibly  the  grace  of  the  risen 
Lord  passes  through  the  medium  of  our  faith  into 
the  radiant  beauty  of  a  life  on  fire  with  God.  O  fire 
of  God,  thou  shalt  burn  on  us  for  evermore ;  and  our 
spirits  shall  be  thy  candles,  because  we  have  learned 
to  be  strengthened  with  might  by  his  Spirit  in  the 
inner  man,  and  Christ  dwells  in  our  hearts  by  faith. 

We  must  expect  that  Christ  will  use  his  golden 
snuffers.  Let  us  not  flinch  from  them.  When  He 
seems  sacrificing  some  vital,  necessary  part  of  our 


6o  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

nature,  He  is  only  cutting  away  the  black,  charred, 
burnt-out  debris.  Trust  Him.  That  piece  which  He 
has  cut  away  was  smoking  badly,  and  spoiling  the 
testimony  of  the  rest.  It  was  better  for  it  to  come 
off ;  but  He  thinks  so  much  of  this  work,  that  He  will 
use  only  golden  snuffers.  Can  you  not  trust  the 
hand  that  holds  them?  It  bears  the  nail-print  of 
Calvary. 

Beware,  also,  that  nothing  chokes  the  golden  pipes 
of  obedience  to  his  kindliness,  and  trust  in  his  priest- 
hood ;  else  the  entrance  of  the  golden  oil  will  be  ar- 
rested. They  may  soon  become  stopped  by  neglect, 
inattention,  or  disuse. 

Do  not  weary  of  the  slow  advance  of  your  life  to 
Christian  perfection.  This  is  the  day  of  small 
things ;  of  the  foundation-trench  rather  than  the  top- 
stone;  of  the  testing  of  line  and  plummet,  rather 
than  of  shoutings  of  "Grace,  grace  unto  it."  But  be 
of  good  cheer ;  the  seven  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  upon 
the  worker  and  the  work.  They  run  to  and  fro 
throughout  the  whole  earth ;  but  they  return  to  rest 
in  loving  interest  on  the  progress  of  His  work.  He 
will  perfect  that  which  concerneth  you;  He  cannot 
forsake  the  work  of  His  own  hands. 

Grace  all  the  work  shall  crown 

Through  everlasting  days; 
It  lays  in  Heaven  the  topmost  stone. 

And  well  deserves  the  praise. 


VII. 
<5ofn9  3Foctb. 

(Zechariah  v.,  vi.,  1-8.) 

There  is  a  clear  connection  between  the  three  next 
visions,  furnished  by  the  words,  Going  forth.  *'The 
curse  goes  forth  over  the  face  of  the  whole  land" 
(3) ;  'The  ephah  goeth  forth"  (6)  ;  "The  chariots 
go  forth"  (vi.  1-5.)  It  is  as  though  Zechariah  were 
permitted  to  stand  in  the  center  of  things,  where  God 
is,  and  was  able  to  see  the  successive  issues  of  the 
Divine  Providence  in  respect  of  the  moral  govern- 
ment of  his  people  and  the  world. 

I.  The  Vision  of  the  Flying  Roll. — The 
prophet  beheld  in  vision  a  huge  sheet  of  paper,  or 
dressed  skin,  prepared  for  writing,  slowly  floating 
in  mid-heaven.  It  seemed  to  be  hovering,  and  pre- 
pared to  pounce,  as  a  bird  of  prey  may  often  be  seen 
on  the  point  of  settling  over  a  plowed  field.  Its 
considerable  extent,  thirty  feet  by  fifteen — the  di- 
mensions of  the  temple  porch — was  covered  on  each 
side  by  the  solemn  curses  of  the  law;  on  this,  by 
those  that  condemn  the  thief ;  on  that,  by  those  con- 
demning the  false  swearer. 

We  have  already  learned  that  God  had  returned  to 
61 


62  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

Jerusalem,  prepared  to  become  a  wall  of  fire  round 
about,  and  its  glory  in  the  midst ;  the  temple  should 
be  rebuilt,  and  the  priesthood  reconstituted ;  but  the 
people  must  be  made  to  understand  what  a  solemn 
thing  it  was  to  have  God  in  such  near  proximity.  If 
He  was  ready  to  defend  them  against  their  foes.  He 
was  also  determined  to  purge  out  from  among  them 
those  who  transgressed  His  holy  law. 

It  is  clear  that  this  young  community  was  spe- 
cially cursed  by  these  twin  sins.  Men  were  fraudu- 
lent and  mendacious.  They  got  the  better  of  their 
customers  if  they  had  the  chance ;  and  then,  with  un- 
blushing effrontery,  lied  to  conceal  their  frauds. 
These  are  always  the  sins  of  a  mercantile  commun- 
ity; and  they  are  as  prevalent  in  London  and  New 
York,  in  Bombay  and  Melbourne,  as  ever  they  were 
in  the  newly-restored  Jerusalem.  But  God  is  al- 
ways pledged  to  deal  with  them,  in  the  interests  of 
society  itself,  which  must  be  undermined  if  they  be 
allowed  to  prevail  unchecked.  Over  the  great  com- 
mercial centers  of  the  world — yes,  and  over  the 
great  emporiums  of  trade — that  roll  still  hangs,  and 
the  curse  of  God  threatens  to  fall. 

The  effect  of  the  curse  is  told  in  graphic  symbol- 
ism. It  seemed  after  a  time  to  settle  down  on  cer- 
tain houses.  They  may  have  been  resepectable 
houses,  the  houses  of  men  that  were  held  in  reverent 
repute,  houses  which  were  often  alight  with  the  lamps 
of  high  festival;  but  by  the  settling  down  of  that 
roll,  the  master  of  such  and  such  a  house  v/as  indi- 
cated as  being  either  a  thief  or  a  liar.  'T  will  cause  it 


GOING  FORTH.  63 

to  go  forth,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  and  it  shall  enter 
into  the  house  of  the  thief,  and  into  the  house  of  him 
that  sweareth  falsely  by  tny  name." 

That,  however,  was  not  the  end,  either  of  the 
vision  or  of  those  divine  dealings  which  the  vision 
describes.  The  interpreting  angel  goes  on  to  say: 
"It  shall  abide  in  the  midst  of  his  house,  and  shall 
consume  it,  with  the  timber  thereof,  and  the  stones 
thereof."  It  was  as  though,  from  the  moment  that 
the  curse  settled  down,  the  whole  fabric  of  the  house 
commenced  to  rot;  and  the  owner  might  fairly 
adopt  the  words  of  Leviticus:  'There  seemeth  to 
me  to  be,  as  it  were,  a  plague  in  the  house." 

How  terribly  those  words  have  been  fulfilled  in 
the  case  of  people  and  families  we  have  known !  It 
has  seemed  as  though  there  were  a  plague  in  the 
house.  The  fortune  which  had  been  accumulated 
with  such  toil  has  crumbled ;  the  children  turned  out 
sources  of  heart-rending  grief ;  the  reputation  of  the 
father  has  become  irretrievably  tarnished.  "There 
is  a  plague  spread  in  the  house;  it  is  a  fretting 
leprosy,  it  is  unclean."  No  man  can  stand  against 
that  curse.  It  confronts  him  everywhere.  It 
touches  his  most  substantial  effects,  and  they  pul- 
verize, as  furniture  eaten  through  by  white  ants.  It 
is  as  though  he  were  condemned  to  hear,  like  an- 
other Job,  the  voices  of  successive  messengers,  an- 
nouncing that  they  only  are  left  to  tell  the  story  of 
irremediable  disaster.  Timber  and  stones,  however 
carved  and  chiseled,  crumble  to  ash  and  dust !  How 
awfully  realistic !    How  terribly  true ! 


64  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

11.  The  Vision  of  the  Ephah. — Again  the 
prophet's  eyes  were  directed  by  the  angel  that  spoke 
with  him  toward  mid-heaven,  and  he  saw  a  yet 
more  graphic  symbol.  An  ephah  was  seen  careering 
through  the  air.  '1  said,  What  is  it?  And  he  said, 
This  is  the  ephah  that  goeth  forth.  He  said,  more- 
over, This  is  their  resemblance  in  all  the  land."  As 
much  as  to  say  that  the  Jews  were  known  through- 
out the  world  of  that  time  as  traders,  who  were  con- 
stantly handing  the  Hebrew  dry  measure,  contain- 
ing about  a  bushel,  or  seven-and-a-half  gallons. 

Presently  the  cover  was  lifted  off,  and  a  woman 
was  seen  sitting  in  the  midst  of  the  ephah.  "And  he 
said,  "This  is  Wickedness;  and  he  cast  her  down 
into  the  midst  of  the  ephah :  and  he  cast  the  weight 
of  lead  upon  the  mouth  thereof."  Does  not  this 
clearly  mean  that  the  commercial  life  of  these  Jew- 
ish traders  was  deeply  saturated  with  wicked  prac- 
tices, and  that  there  was  a  kind  of  alliance  between 
them  and  the  impalpable  spirit  of  Wickedness,  as 
illustrated  by  this  personification  of  evil  ? 

How  often  when  men  slam  to  the  doors  of  their 
safes,  shut  their  ledgers,  and  lock  their  counting- 
houses,  they  seem  to  place  the  leaden  weight  on  the 
top  of  the  ephah  containing  wickedness !  They  wish 
to  hide  it  from  the  eyes  of  their  nearest  and  dearest. 
They  would  like  to  hide  it  from  the  face  of  God 
Himself. 

It  is  at  this  juncture,  however,  that  an  entirely 
new  turn  is  given  to  this  vision.  "Then  lifted  I  up 
mine  eyes,  and  saw,  and  behold,  there  came  forth 


GOING  FORTH.  65 

two  women,  and  the  wind  was  in  their  wings;  now 
they  had  wings  hke  the  wihgs  of  a  stork :  and  they 
lifted  up  the  ephah  between  the  earth  and  the 
heaven."  The  stork  has  long  and  wide  wings.  It  is 
also  a  migratory  bird.  It  would  have  no  difficulty 
in  covering  the  distance  between  Jerusalem  and 
Babylon.  And,  therefore,  storks'  wings  are  attrib- 
uted to  these  two  women.  As  two  anointed  ones 
stand  by  the  Lord  as  his  ministers,  so  these  two 
women  execute  his  purposes  in  removing  wicked- 
ness, which  answers  to  the  mystery  of  iniquity,  of 
which  the  apostle  speaks. 

"Then  said  I  to  the  angel  that  talked  with  me, 
Whither  do  these  bear  the  ephah  ?  And  he  said  unto 
me,  To  build  her  an  house  in  the  land  of  Shinar; 
and  when  it  is  prepared,  she  shall  be  set  there  in  her 
own  place."  Babylon  was  far  away,  the  seat  of 
apostasy  from  God  and  demon-worship.  It  was 
meet  that  Wickedness  should  be  borne  thither.  But 
how  great  the  deliverance  for  the  chosen  land ! 

What  comfort  is  here!  Wickedness  may  be 
strongly  entrenched ;  but  she  shall  be  removed,  when 
once  God  arises  on  the  behalf  of  his  people.  Do  you 
sigh  and  cry  against  it?  Do  you  desire  that  some 
terrible  form  of  it,  which  has  cursed  your  life  too 
long,  and  alienated  the  Divine  favor,  should  be  elim- 
inated? Be  encouraged  by  that  vision!  Lift  up 
your  eyes,  and  see  the  swift  stork-like  wings,  with 
the  favoring  breeze  bearing  them  forward  as  they 
speed  to  perform  God's  behest.  If  only  you  are 
willing,  God  will  certainly  free  and  deliver  you. 


66  TUB  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

Thousands  have  experienced  this  deliverance 
from  certain  forms  of  besetting  sin,  which  have 
dropped  off  as  the  viper  from  Paul's  hand,  as  they 
have  received  the  more  perfect  indwelling  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Not  long  after  his  conversion,  the 
saintly  Fletcher  passed  into  this  experience,  trod  sin 
under  his  feet,  and  proclaimed  that  we  must  not  be 
content  till  we  have  been  delivered  from  the  power  of 
sin,  through  the  indwelling  of  the  Divine  Spirit. 
And  Wesley  says  of  Halyburton :  "This  great  serv- 
ant of  God  sometimes  fell  back,  from  the  glorious 
liberty  he  had  received,  into  the  spirit  of  fear,  and 
sin,  and  bondage.  But  why?  Because  he  did  not 
abide  in  Christ;  because  he  did  not  cleave  to  Him 
with  all  his  heart;  because  he  grieved  the  Holy 
Spirit  by  whom  freedom  from  sin  is  rendered  the 
common  privilege  of  all."  From  which  we  infer 
that  Wesley  held  and  taught,  that  we  are  delivered 
from  the  power  of  sin  and  darkness,  just  in  so  far  as 
we  abide  in  Him  who  is  the  light  of  life.  Abide  in 
Him,  and  you,  too,  shall  see  wickedness  borne  out 
of  the  practical  experience  of  your  life. 

III.  The  Vision  of  the  Chariots. — This  is  a 
vision  of  Protection  and  Deliverance.  Four  char- 
iots are  seen  issuing  from  the  mountains  that  were 
round  about  Jerusalem.  In  each  case  the  color  of 
the  horses  represented  the  commission  that  their 
hurrying  drivers  bore  to  the  different  nations,  which, 
before  that  time,  had  ravaged  the  Jewish  people. 
'Then  I  answered  and  said  unto  the  angel  that 


GOING  FORTH.  ^7 

talked  with  me:  What  are  these,  my  lord?  And 
the  angel  answered  and  sai'd  unto  me:  These  are 
the  four  spirits  of  Heaven,  which  go  forth  from 
standing  before  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth." 

Against  the  north  country,  where  Babylon  lay, 
two  chariots  went  forth;  whereof  the  black  horses 
represented  defeat  and  despair,  while  the  white 
stood  for  the  victorious  successes  of  some  conquer- 
ing people,  before  whom  Babylon  would  be  laid  low 
in  the  dust — a  prediction  which  was  probably  ful- 
filled in  the  rise  of  the  third  great  world-wide  king- 
dom of  Greece,  under  Alexander  the  Great. 

The  grizzled,  or  piebald,  went  forth  toward  the 
south  country,  and  represent  the  mixed  experiences 
— partly  of  disaster,  and  partly  of  prosperity — 
which  would  befall  Egypt,  on  the  southern  frontier 
of  the  Holy  Land.  For  the  v/ord  bay,  the  margin 
suggests  the  possible  alternative  strong;  and  this  is 
probably  the  right  rendering.  So  this  one  chariot 
seems  to  have  been  allocated  to  the  work  of  going  to 
and  fro  in  the  earth,  on  a  general  mission  of  patrol 
and  defense.  If  Satan  goes  to  and  fro,  seeking 
whom  he  may  injure,  the  chariots  of  God  go  to  and 
fro,  to  bring  succor  and  deliverance  to  the  saints. 

How  comforting  this  vision  was  and  is!  It 
clearly  teaches  that,  when  sin  is  put  away,  as  be- 
tween God  and  his  people.  He  constitutes  Himself 
their  gracious  Keeper:  no  weapon  that  is  turned 
against  them  prospers,  and  every  tongue  that  rises 
in  judgment  against  them  is  condemned.     Woe  be 


68  THE  PROPHET  OP  HOPE. 

to  their  enemies!  God's  Spirit  is,  in  strong  meta- 
phor, described  as  being  quieted  by  their  overthrovv^ ; 
whilst  his  chosen  dwell  always  within  the  precincts 
of  his  Almighty  guardianship.  'They  shall  dwell 
securely  in  the  wilderness,  and  sleep  in  the  woods." 


VIII. 
Cbriet— ipr(e6t  anD  *lking. 

(Zechariah  vi.,  9-15.) 

At  this  point  an  interesting  episode  breaks  in  on 
this  wonderful  series  of  visions.  From  far-off 
Babylon,  where  the  majority  of  the  Jewish  nation 
was  still  residing,  a  deputation  of  three  Jews  came 
to  Jerusalem,  bringing  a  present  of  gold  and  silver. 
This  donation  was  evidently  intended  to  aid  the 
little  band  of  returned  exiles  in  their  heroic  work. 
Alas,  it  is  still  the  way  in  which  too  many  Christians 
do  the  work  of  God!  They  shrink  from  personal 
service;  but  are  quite  ready,  in  lieu  of  it,  to  give  a 
subscription  in  aid  of  those  who  are  sacrificing  ease 
and  emolument  that  they  may  give  priceless  per- 
sonal service. 

The  men  who  brought  the  gift  were  Heldai 
(called  Helem  in  verse  14),  Tobijah,  and  Jedaiah, 
and  they  were  received  and  entertained  by  Josiah,  or 
Hen,  the  son  of  Zephaniah. 

Zechariah  was  directed  to  take  the  gold  and  sil- 
ver, and  make  a  crown  (or  crowns).  These,  on 
some  public  occasion,  and  with,  perhaps,  some  little 
ceremony,  were  placed  on  the  fair  mitre,  which,  we 
have  already  seen,  had  been  set  on  the  high  priest's 
head.  69 


70  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

It  was  a  much  more  significant  act  than  this  bare 
recital  of  it  suggests.  These  two  offices,  the  sacer- 
dotal and  the  regal,  had  been  always  kept  jealously 
apart  in  Israel;  and  when  King  Uzziah  had  at- 
tempted to  burn  incense  upon  the  altar  of  incense, 
the  altercation  which  ensued  in  the  holy  place  be- 
tween himself  and  the  priests,  countersigned  as  their 
horror  and  indignation  were  by  the  rising  of  the 
brand  of  leprosy  on  his  forehead,  proved  how 
stringent  that  separation  was.  But  here  the  divinely 
commissioned  prophet,  by  an  unmistakable  symbolic 
act,  combined  the  two  offices  in  the  same  individual. 
And,  using  a  well-understood  name  for  the  Messiah, 
went  on  to  say :  "Thus  speaketh  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
saying:  Behold,  the  Man  whose  name  is  The 
Branch.  He  shall  grow  up  out  of  his  place  (i.e., 
shall  emerge  from  the  obscurity  of  his  early  begin- 
nings), and  He  shall  build  the  Temiple  of  the  Lord; 
and  He  shall  bear  the  glory,  and  shall  sit  and  rule 
upon  his  throne;  and  He  shall  be  a  priest  upon  his 
throne,  and  the  counsel  of  peace  shall  be  between 
them  both"  (i.e.,  between  these  two  offices,  the 
priestly  and  the  regal). 

L  Notice  this  Significant  Designation  of 
THE  Lord  Jesus — 'The  Branch."  The  family  of 
David  was  like  a  decayed  tree,  the  stump  of  which 
alone  remains;  but  from  so  lowly  and  unlikely  an 
origin,  a  shoot  or  scion  would  emanate,  which 
would  again  become  a  noble  forest  tree,  and  per- 
petuate the  memory  and  influence  of  the  royal  line. 
This  imagery  is  familiar  to  more  than  one  of  the 


CHRIST— PRIEST  AND  KING.  71 

prophets,  and,  in  every  case*  can  only  be  applied  to 
"Jesus  Christ,  the  son  of  David,  the  son  of  Abra- 
ham" (Matt.  i.  i).  'There  shall  come  forth,"  says 
Isaiah,  "a.  shoot  out  of  the  stock  of  Jesse;  and  a 
Branch  out  of  his  roots  shall  bear  fruit,  and  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  rest  upon  Him.  In  that  day 
shall  the  Branch  of  the  Lord  be  beautiful  and 
glorious."  "Behold" — they  are  the  words  of  Jere- 
miah— "the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will 
raise  imto  David  a  righteous  Branch,  and  He  shall 
reign  as  King."  It  is  suggested  that,  in  the  song  of 
Zecharias,  so  full  of  the  glad  realization  of  the  ful- 
filled past,  Branch  may  be  substituted  for  Dayspring, 
and  he  may,  therefore,  have  quoted  this  very  phrase 
and  said,  "The  Branch  from  on  high  hath  visited 
us"  (Lukei.  78). 

Certainly  David's  race  had  reached  a  low  ebb 
when  Joseph  went  up  from  Galilee,  out  of  the  city  of 
Nazareth  into  Judea,  to  the  city  of  David  which  is 
called  Bethlehem,  to  be  enrolled  with  Mary  his 
espoused  wife,  because  they  were  of  the  house  and 
lineage  of  David.  There  was  no  room  for  them  in 
the  village  inn ;  the  new-born  babe  was  wrapped  in 
swaddling  clothes  and  laid  in  a  manger;  and  the 
couple  were  so  straitened  for  means  that  they  could 
not  afford  to  purchase  two  young  pigeons,  the  gift 
of  the  poor,  for  the  mother's  thank-offering  in  the 
Temple.  From  that  stock,  however,  the  scion  has 
grown  into  a  noble  tree,  whose  branches  reach  out  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  whose  fruit  gives  life  and 
blessing  to  all  mankind. 


72  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

Through  a  branch  the  fullness  of  the  Root  is  car- 
ried to  the  fruit,  which  swells  in  ruddy  beauty  on  its 
extremity,  and  presently  falls  into  the  hand  of  the 
wayfarer;  so  Jesus  is  the  blessed  channel  of  com- 
munication between  the  fullness  of  God,  and  the 
thirsty  wastes  of  human  need.  We  sit  under  his 
shadow  with  great  delight,  and  his  fruit  is  sweet  to 
our  taste. 

II.  The  Combination  in  Christ  of  the 
Priestly  and  Kingly  Offices. — "He  shall  be  a 
priest  upon  his  throne."  Man's  nature  demands  a 
Priest.  Conscious  of  sin  and  defilement,  he  rears 
an  altar  wherever  he  pitches  his  tent ;  and,  selecting 
one  of  his  fellows,  he  separates  him  from  the  or- 
dinary duties  of  life,  and  bids  him  stand  as  mediator 
and  priest  between  God  and  himself.  It  was  thus 
that  Micah  addressed  the  young  man,  the  Levite  of 
Bethlehem- Judah,  when  he  said,  ''Dwell  with  me, 
and  be  unto  me  a  father  and  priest ;  and  I  will  give 
thee  ten  pieces  of  silver  by  the  year,  and  thine  ap- 
parel, and  thy  victuals." 

If  an  argument  were  needed  to  prove  the  unity  of 
the  human  family,  it  surely  would  be  suggested  by 
the  universal  distribution  of  temples  and  altars  over 
the  world,  as  though  men  were  everywhere  alike  in 
this — that  they  know  themselves  to  be  sinful,  and 
desire  to  find  some  way  of  propitiating  and  ap- 
proaching the  Almighty. 

In  the  Levitical  system,  and,  above  all,  in  Jesus 
Christ,  God  has  met  this  universal  craving  of  the 
human  heart.    Indeed,  no  religion  is  destined  to  tmi- 


CHRIST— PRIEST  AND  KING.  73 

versal  supremacy  that  does  n®t  provide  for  the  con- 
sciousness of  guilt,  and  reveal  a  merciful  and  faith- 
ful priest,  appointed  in  things  pertaining  to  God, 
that  he  may  offer  both  gifts  and  sacrifices  for  sins, 
and  bear  gently  with  the  ignorant  and  erring. 

Man  also  requires  a  king.  God  had  designed  to 
meet  this  need  by  Himself  by  being  Israel's  King, 
that  they  should  not  be  "like  other  nations,"  but  a 
peculiar  people  unto  Him.  They  were  following 
natural  promptings,  when  the  Israelites  came  to 
Samuel  and  said:  "We  will  have  a  king  over  us, 
that  we  also  may  be  like  the  other  nations,  and  that 
our  king  may  judge  us,  and  go  out  before  us,  and 
fight  our  battles."  Man  needs  a  leader — one  whom 
he  may  admire  and  obey;  from  whom  he  may  re- 
ceive indisputable  commands ;  and  in  whom  his  fac- 
ulty of  veneration  may  find  satisfaction.  The  days 
when  there  was  no  king  in  Israel,  and  every  man  did 
what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes,  were  far  from  being 
either  contented  or  prosperous. 

How  remarkable  it  is  that  the  kingship  of  Jesus 
should  have  been  so  accentuated  in  his  trial.  It  was 
the  center  around  which  the  storm  raged.  Pilate 
challenged  his  claims:  "Art  Thou  a  king,  then?" 
and  Jesus  asseverated  them:  "Thou  sayest  that  I 
am — a  king."  The  faded  purple  robe  flung  over  his 
shoulders,  the  reed  in  his  hand,  the  mocking  bend- 
ing of  the  knee,  the  crowd  of  thorns  on  his  brow, 
were  but  the  grotesque  and  heartless  mockery  of  his 
claims.  And  when  his  sacred  body  was  affixed  to 
the  cross,  the  title  on  the  headpiece,  written  in  the 


74  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

languages  of  learning,  imperial  power,  and  religion, 
attested  that  He  was  King  of  the  Jews. 

And  since  he  has  passed  into  the  glory,  He  is  still 
the  Priest-King.  Not  Aaron,  but  Melchizedek,  is 
the  true  type  of  our  Saviour  now.  As  Aaron,  He 
made  Atonement  and  propitiation  for  sin;  but  as 
Melchizedek,  He  has  sat  down  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  throne  of  God.  'This  Melchizedek  was  King 
of  Salem,  and  Priest  of  the  Most  High  God." 

As  Priest,  Jesus  pleads  the  merit  of  his  blood ;  as 
King,  He  exerts  power  on  our  behalf.  As  Priest, 
He  pacifies  the  guilty  conscience ;  as  King,  He  sends 
thrills  of  his  own  victorious  life  into  our  spirits. 
As  Priest,  Pie  brings  us  nigh  to  God ;  as  King,  He 
treads  our  enemies  under  his  feet.  It  is  of  great 
importance  to  us  all  to  think  of  our  Saviour  in  this 
dual  aspect.  On  the  one  hand,  we  get  all  the  benefit 
of  his  Cross  and  Passion;  on  the  other,  all  the 
benefit  of  his  resurrection  and  session  at  the  right 
hand  of  God.  May  it  not  be  that  the  weakness  of 
thy  Christian  life  is  due  to  the  fact  that  thou  hast 
viewed  Him  only  in  the  light  of  Calvary,  and  hast 
not,  with  Stephen,  seen  Him  seated  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  Majesty  on  High — a  Prince  as  well  as  a 
Saviour — a  Saviour  because  a  Prince?  Thank  God 
for  the  Lam.b;  but  rejoice,  O  child  of  God,  that  He 
is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne !  He  bore  the  penalty 
of  thy  sin,  when  He  shed  his  precious  Blood;  He 
will  deliver  thee  from  the  power  of  sin,  as  thou 
placest  thyself  absolutely  beneath  his  royalty,  both 
King  and  Lord.     When  He  is  absolutely  trusted 


CHRIST— PRIEST  AND  KING.  75 

and  obeyed,  he  accounts  Hitpself  absolutely  respons- 
ible to  achieve  the  uttermost  salvation  of  those  who 
trust  in  Him.  If  there  is  some  sin  which  defies 
theCj  at  least  it  shall  not  be  too  strong  for  Him. 
And  if  the  outflow  of  his  delivering  power  toward 
thee  seems  restrained  and  ineffective,  be  sure  that, 
in  some  one  particular,  which  He  will  be  quick  to 
show  thee,  if  only  thou  art  willing  to  be  informed, 
there  has  been  a  failure  to  yield  Him  the  obedience 
which  is  due  to  Him  as  thy  King.  He  sits  and  rules 
upon  the  throne  of  the  universe ;  and,  therefore,  will 
subdue  all  rule,  authority,  and  power.  He  must  sit 
and  rule  on  the  throne  of  thy  heart,  that  there  also 
He  may  put  down  everything  which  opposes  and 
obstructs  his  sway.  "God  hath  exalted  Him  to  be 
a  Prince  and  a  Saviour." 

What  majesty  there  is  in  these  words :  "He 
shall  sit  and  rule  upon  his  throne,  and  He  shall  be 
a  Priest  upon  his  throne!  Let  all  other  beings 
stand ;  He  sits.  He  sits  because  of  his  intrinsic  dig- 
nity; because  of  his  finished  mediatorial  work;  be- 
cause full  of  a  calm  expectancy  that  his  foes  shall 
be  subdued  under  Him.  The  priests  of  Aaron's  line 
stood  day  by  day  ministering  and  offering  often- 
times the  same  sacrifices,  the  which  could  never  take 
away  sins;  but  He,  "when  He  had  offered  one 
sacrifice  for  sins  forever,  sat  down  at  the  right 
hand  of  God,  from  henceforth  expecting  till  his 
enemies  be  made  the  footstool  of  his  feet." 

Infinite  woe  has  come  to  mankind  through  the 
reign  of  priests.    No  rule  has  been  so  intolerant,  so 


76  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

capricious,  so  cruel,  as  that  exercised  by  some  of 
the  pontiffs,  or  by  priests,  of  one  sort  and  another, 
through  monarchs,  who  have  been  the  creatures  of 
their  will.  But  this  world  will  never  be  at  rest 
until  it  submits  to  the  beneficent  rule  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  acknowledges  that  the  counsel  of  its 
peace  emanates  from  the  combination  of  these  two 
offices  in  his  sacred  person. 

III.  As  THE  Priest-king,  Christ  builds  the 
Temple  of  God. — Twice  over  this  is  affirmed ;  but 
what  untold  comfort  the  assurance  must  have 
brought  when  first  addressed  to  that  little  band  of 
exiles !  Their  temple  site  was  strewn  with  ruins : 
it  seemed  almost  hopeless  to  contend  with  thOvSe 
heaps  of  rubbish,  impossible  to  rear  a  fabric  worthy 
of  the  past  and  adequate  for  the  future;  but  these 
words  must  have  greatly  heartened  them.  As  the 
hand  of  Inspiration  drew  aside  the  veil,  they  beheld 
another  and  greater  than  either  Joshua  or  Zerub- 
babel,  working  with  them  and  for  them,  and  bear- 
ing the  chief  responsibility  in  all  the  toils  and  labors 
of  their  new  erection — He;  not  they.  They  would 
work  with  new  energy  and  courage,  knowing,  as 
they  did,  that  they  were  fellow-workers  with  God. 
What  difficulty  could  daunt,  what  enemies  thwart 
or  frustrate,  the  work  of  his  right  hand? 

Is  not  this  as  true  a  description  of  what  is  hap- 
pening today  as  it  was  of  those  far-off  incidents  of 
temple-building?  We  may  be  engaged  in  building 
that  spiritual  house,  that  holy  temple  of  saved  souls, 
which  is  slowly  rising  amid  the  wrecks  of  time ;  and 


CHRIST— PRIEST  AND  KING.  77 

sometimes  it  seems  as  though  the  structure  will 
never  be  completed.  The  scaffolding  poles  and 
rafters  hide  the  unfinished  walls ;  the  very  pattern  is 
obscured  amid  the  dust  and  pother;  for  every  step 
in  advance  there  are  apparently  two  or  three  of 
recession  and  failure,  and  we  break  our  hearts. 
Will  the  work  ever  be  done?  Is  it  worth  all  the 
expenditure  of  blood  and  tears?  Shall  we  not 
desist  ? 

Then  we  understand  that  we  have  much  less  to  do 
with  it  than  we  supposed ;  that  we  are  not  so  neces- 
sary as  we  thought ;  that  we  are  but  day  laborers  at 
the  best,  and  that  He  is  the  great  Master  Builder. 
It  was  this  that  made  Paul  exclaim :  ''We  are  God's 
fellow-workers;  ye  are  God's  Husbandry,  God's 
Building." 

If  these  words  should  be  read  by  any  who  are 
losing  heart  because  of  the  difficulties  presented  by 
their  parish,  their  church,  or  the  souls  of  their 
charge,  let  them  be  reassured,  as  they  behold  the 
trowel  in  the  hands  of  the  Priest-King ;  and  let  them 
be  sure  that  He  will  succeed.  They  know  not  what 
He  is  doing,  or  using  them  to  do.  They  are  probably 
doing  more  than  they  know;  and  He  is  responsible 
for  employing  them,  whether  in  the  deep  founda- 
tion-digging, or  in  the  high  stories  away  in  the 
sunny  air.  But  let  them  not  be  discouraged,  or 
desert  Him,  lest  He  be  compelled  to  summon  others 
to  help  Him  perfect  what  they  commenced. 

The  crowns  of  gold  were  put  aside  till  the  temple 
was  completed,  and  then    deposited    there,  as    a 


78  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

memorial  to  the  men  who  had  formed  the  deputa- 
tion; and  an  assurance  was  given  that  those  who 
were  far  off  should  come  to  add  their  strength  to 
that  of  the  returned  remnant. 

The  Spiritual  Temple  is  rising  through  the  ages, 
and  includes  the  workmanship  of  Jew  and  Gentile, 
of  bond  and  free,  of  those  who  are  the  children  of 
privilege,  and  those  who  seemed  outside  the  pale 
of  salvation.  "Remember  that  aforetime  ye,  the 
Gentiles  in  the  flesh,  ....  were,  at  that  time, 
separate  from  Christ,  alienated  from  the  common- 
wealth of  Israel,  and  strangers  from  the  covenants 
of  promise;  ....  but  now — ye  are  fellow-citizens 
with  the  saints — being  built  upon  the  foundation  of 
the  apostles  and  prophets,  Christ  Jesus  Himself 
being  the  chief  Corner-stone,  in  whom  the  whole 
building,  fitly  framed  together,  groweth  into  a  holy 
temple  in  the  Lord." 


IX. 
3fa6t6  Zuvncb  to  yeasts* 

(Zechariah  vii.,  viii.) 

The  Jews,  during  their  captivity,  appear  to  have 
observed  four  fasts.  Four  months  were  darkened 
by  them.  That  of  the  tenth  month  recalled  the  first 
enclosure  of  Jerusalem  by  the  lines  of  circumvalla- 
tion;  that  of  the  fourth  month  commemorated  the 
capture  of  the  city  in  the  reign  of  Zedekiah  (Jer. 
xxxix.  2;  Hi.  6,  7)  ;  of  the  fifth,  the  disaster  which 
capped  all,  when  the  house  of  the  Lord  was  set  on 
fire  (Hi.  12-14) ;  that  of  the  seventh,  the  murder  of 
Gedaliah,  resulting  in  the  dispersion  of  the  remnant 
(xli.  1-3). 

The  Jewish  year  was  thus  filled  with  sad  retro- 
spects, and  the  national  life  was  perpetually  op- 
pressed with  gloom :  for  it  is  clear  that  the  observ- 
ance of  these  days  was  a  rigorous  obligation  (Zech. 
vii.  4-6). 

On  their  return  from  captivity  the  people  still 
maintained  these  fasts;  and  it  seems  to  have  struck 
some  of  the  exiles  who  had  settled  in  Bethel  as 
altogether  incongruous  to  continue  wearing  sack- 
cloth, and  casting  ashes  on  their  heads,  when  the 
Holy  City  was  rapidly  rising  from  the  dust,  and 

79 


8o  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

regaining  much  of  her  former  prosperity  and  beauty. 
It  seemed  to  savor  of  unreahty  and  hypocrisy  to 
continue  to  profess  a  grief  which  had  long  since 
been  assuaged,  and  even  changed  into  great  joy. 
Surely  the  confessions  and  lamentations,  which 
were  befitting  enough  in  Babylon,  were  out  of  place 
in  the  land  of  their  fathers.  They  sent,  therefore, 
a  deputation  to  the  house  of  God,  to  consult  the 
priests  and  prophets  congregated  there,  saying: 
^'Should  I  weep  in  the  fifth  month,  separating  my- 
self, as  I  have  done  these  so  many  years?"  (Zech. 
vii.  1-3.) 

It  was  a  very  reasonable  inquiry,  and  becoming 
to  honorable  men,  who  felt  that  fasting  and  mourn- 
ing must  be  both  meaningless  in  themselves  and 
displeasing  to  God,  unless  they  were  the  outward 
expression  of  the  soul's  genuine  emotions.  It  was 
surely  worse  than  useless  to  keep  up  an  antiquated 
form,  the  effigy  of  the  past,  the  withered  mummy 
of  a  service  which  once  expressed  the  most  profound 
anguish  and  repentance.  It  is,  above  all  things, 
necessary  to  be  real  in  our  religious  life — never  to 
profess  what  we  do  not  feel.  Do  not  keep  up  a 
form  for  form's  sake,  if  you  have  left  behind  the 
experience  of  w^hich  it  was  once  the  expression. 
Nothing  will  so  deaden  the  soul  as  the  maintenance 
of  rites  from  which  the  fire  and  light  have  died, 
leaving  them  as  the  scoriae  of  the  volcano. 

Zechariah  seems  to  have  given  four  separate 
answers  to  this  inquiry.  Four  times  "The  Word  01 
the  Lord  of  Hosts"  came  to  him. 


FASTS  TURNED  TO  FEASTS.  8l 

In  the  first  (vii.  4-7),  he  reminds  the  people  that 
these  fasts  were  of  their  own  appointing;  and  sug- 
gests the  inference,  therefore,  that  as  they  had  in- 
augurated them,  they  were  at  hberty  to  discontinue 
them  when  they  chose.  He  suggests  the  further 
inference,  also,  that  it  would  have  been  far  better 
if,  instead  of  appointing  fasts,  which  satisfied 
national  sentiment,  the  people  had  set  themselves 
to  ponder  the  words  of  the  older  prophets :  "Should 
ye  not  hear  the  words  which  the  Lord  hath  cried 
by  the  former  prophets,  when  Jerusalem  was  in- 
habited, and  in  prosperity?"  It  is  so  much  easier  to 
set  up  fasts,  and  to  insist  on  outward  observances, 
than  to  bow  down  the  heart  before  God,  and  to  obey 
the  ordinances  which  He  has  enjoined. 

hi  the  second  (vii.  8-14),  the  prophet  says,  that 
whatever  they  may  or  may  not  do  with  respect  to 
the  outward  fast,  they  should  at  least  exemplify  the 
spirit  of  true  religion,  which  was  of  priceless  im- 
portance. "Execute  true  judgment,  and  show 
mercy  and  compassion  every  man  to  his  brother; 
and  oppress  not  the  widow,  nor  the  fatherless,  the 
stranger,  nor  the  poor ;  and  let  none  of  you  imagine 
evil  against  his  brother  in  your  heart."  Thus  had 
God  spoken  to  their  fathers,  and  thus  He  was  now 
speaking  with  them.  Their  fathers  had  refused  to 
hear,  but  had  made  their  hearts  as  an  adamant 
stone;  and  it  had  befallen,  therefore,  that,  as  they 
were  deaf  to  God's  cry,  so  He  had  been  to  theirs. 
He  had  scattered  them  as  with  a  whirlwind,  and  left 
their  land  desolate.     Thus  Zechariah  implored  the 


82  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

people  of  his  time  not  to  yield  to  the  obtuseness  and 
disobedience  of  their  fathers;  that  they  might 
escape  their  fate,  and  that  no  catastrophe  should 
interrupt  the  resurrection  of  their  nation,  or  cast 
it  back  into  the  disasters  with  which  it  had  been 
visited. 

In  his  third  answer  (viii.  1-17),  Zechariah  dilates 
on  the  great  prosperity  which  was  awaiting  the 
chosen  city.  The  Lord  had  returned  to  dwell  there, 
to  constitute  Jerusalem  the  city  of  truth,  and  Zion, 
his  holy  mountain.  The  streets  should  yet  be  full 
of  old  men  and  women,  staff  in  hand  for  very  age. 
The  ringing,  careless  laughter  of  boys  and  girls  at 
play  should  proclaim  the  prosperity  and  security  of 
the  times.  From  east  and  west,  contingents  of 
exiles  should  troop  back  to  repopulate  the  former 
desolations.  ''Now  I  will  not  be  unto  the  remnant 
of  this  people  as  in  the  former  days,  saith  the  Lord 
of  Hosts.  For  there  shall  be  the  seed  of  peace ;  the 
vine  shall  give  her  fruit,  and  the  ground  shall  give 
her  increase,  and  the  heavens  shall  give  their  dew; 
and  I  will  cause  the  remnant  of  this  people  to  inherit 
all  these  things." 

And,  again,  on  these  delightful  promises  ensue 
the  reiterated  appeals — that  every  man  should 
speak  truth  with  his  neighbor;  that  true  judgment 
should  be  executed  in  the  gates ;  and  that  all  things 
which  God  hated  should  be  put  away.  It  was  as 
though  these  golden  visions  of  prosperity  and 
blessedness  were  enumerated  to  convince  the  chosen . 
people  that  God  desired  to  remember  their  sins  no 


FASTS  TURNED  TO  FEASTS.  83 

more ;  and  to  urge  that,  instead  of  dwelling  mourn- 
fully on  the  past,  they  should  launch  upon  the  swell- 
ing tide  of  light  and  love,  which  was  creeping  up 
their  shores. 

This  is  God's  way  still.  He  chastens  sorely.  If 
we  profane  his  name  and  pollute  his  temple;  if  we 
strike  hands  in  ungodly  alliances,  and  go  after 
strange  gods ;  if  we  dye  our  hands  in  the  vats  of  the 
world's  vanity — we  are  sent,  as  Israel  was,  into 
captivity,  and  our  seventy  years  are  fulfilled.  But 
when  we  have  profited  by  his  stern  discipline,  and 
returned  to  Him  with  all  our  heart  and  soul,  we  are 
restored  to  our  former  position;  God's  hand  wipes 
.the  tears  from  our  eyes,  and  He  bids  us  turn  from 
our  bitter  repinings  over  an  irretrievable  past,  to 
accept  the  unalloyed  mercy  which  remembers  our 
sins  no  more : 

God  who,   whatever  frenzy  of  our  fretting 
Vexes   sad  life  to  spoil   and   to   destroy, 

Lendeth  an  hour  for  peace  and  for  forgetting, 
Setteth  in  pain  the  jewel  of  his  joy. 

Such  dealings  with  his  rebellious  and  erring 
children  are  very  wonderful.  They  pass  all  human 
thought.  It  is  much  to  be  forgiven :  but  to  be  for- 
given so  utterly,  so  completely,  so  extravagantly, 
''according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace" — here  is  a 
marvel  indeed.  But  there  is  no  marvel  with  Him ! 
Such  grace  is  no  effort  to  his  glorious  nature!  He 
is  not  sensible  of  strain!  It  is  simply  the  bubbling 
over  of  his  heart,  which  is  Love.  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord  of  Hosts :  If  it  be  marvelous  in  the  eyes  of  the 


84  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

remnant  of  this  people,  should  it  also  be  marvelous 
in  mine  eyes,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts?"  ''His  ways 
are  higher  than  our  ways,  and  his  thoughts  than 
our  thoughts." 

In  his  final  answer  (viii.  18-23),  Zechariah  gives 
a  delightful  anticipation  of  future  days,  which  are 
still  awaiting  complete  realization,  but  in  some 
measure  were  fulfilled  in  the  history  of  the  Restora- 
tion. "The  word  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  came  unto 
me,  saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts ;  The  fast 
of  the  fourth  month,  of  the  fifth,  of  the  seventh, 
and  of  the  tenth,  shall  be  to  the  house  of  Judah  joy 
and  gladness,  and  cheerful  feasts ;  therefore  love  the 
truth  and  peace"  (viii.  18,  19). 

This  is  a  welcome  exchange.  We  could  not  be 
surprised  to  learn  that  God  had  so  blotted  out  the 
memory  of  the  past  that  fateful  anniversaries  would 
pass  without  special  recognition.  Our  memory  of 
the  dark  and  disastrous  is  commonly  short-lived. 
Bitter  recollections  soon  fade  from  memory's 
tablets.  What  we  do  not  like  to  recall,  we  drop 
into  the  keeping  of  oblivion,  and  that  sea  is  never  in 
haste  to  give  up  its  dead.  But  the  remarkable  point 
here  was,  that  these  anniversaries,  which  had  form- 
erly brought  the  deepest  melancholy,  would  hence- 
forth be  hailed  as  festal  days,  as  though  the  events 
which  had  happened  on  them,  and  seemed  only  dis- 
astrous, were  really  full  of  the  choicest  blessing, 
and  had  been  misinterpreted.  It  reminds  us  of  the 
dark  lines  in  the  spectrum,  which  stands  for  new 
and  unrealized  constituents  in  the  solar  atmosphere. 


FASTS  TURNED  YO  FEASTS.  85 

Does  the  astronomer  regret  them,  when  he  under- 
stands their  significance?  No,  he  counts  them  of 
inexpressible  worth. 

As  we  inquire  how  such  a  revulsion  of  feeling 
could  be  brought  about,  we  catch  a  further  glimpse 
into  God's  thoughts.  He  set  Himself  to  assure  his 
people,  in  effect,  that  in  the  future,  when  they  could 
view  his  dealings  in  their  true  perspective,  they 
would  discover  that  their  darkest  days  had  been  the 
source  and  origin  of  their  gladdest  ones;  because 
through  them  they  had  come  to  know  themselves, 
been  weaned  from  their  sins,  and  had  acquired 
those  virtues  which  attracted  the  reverence  and  love 
of  the  world. 

Consider  again  these  glowing  predictions :  "It 
shall  come  to  pass  that  as  ye  were  a  curse  among  the 
nations,  O  house  of  Judah  and  house  of  Israel,  so 
will  I  save  you,  and  ye  shall  be  a  blessing."  And 
again :  "Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  It  shall  yet 
come  to  pass,  that  there  shall  come  peoples,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  many  cities ;  and  the  inhabitants  of 
one  city  shall  go  to  another,  saying,  Let  us  go 
speedily  to  entreat  the  favor  of  the  Lord,  and  to  seek 
the  Lord  of  Hosts."  And  again :  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord  of  Hosts,  In  those  days  it  shall  come  to  pass 
that  ten  men  shall  take  hold,  out  of  all  the  languages 
of  the  nations,  shall  even  take  hold  of  the  skirt  of 
him  that  is  a  Jew,  saying,  We  will  go  with  you,  for 
we  have  heard  that  God  is  with  you"  (vs.  13,  20, 

23)- 

These  predictions  have  already  been  marvelously 


86  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

fulfilled.  In  the  midst  of  the  dark  night  of  heathen 
idolatry,  when  the  foremost  and  wisest  nations  of 
the  world  were  given  up  to  the  grossest  idolatry  and 
impurity,  the  synagogues  of  the  dispersed  Jews 
shone  like  sparks  of  light,  holding  forth  the  great 
doctrines  of  the  unity  and  spirituality  of  the  Divine 
Nature,  the  need  of  forgiveness,  and  the  sanctity  of 
Home.  In  every  considerable  Gentile  city,  the  syna- 
gogue had  a  large  following  of  devout  proselytes 
drawn  from  the  leading  Gentile  families.  From  the 
Jewish  nation  came  the  Saviour  of  mankind,  and 
the  earliest  members  of  his  Church.  To  Jews  we 
owe  the  New  Testament,  as  the  Old.  It  was  at 
Jerusalem,  on  the  occasion  of  a  Jewish  festival,  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  descended  to  begin  his  mighty  work. 
And  in  all  the  so-called  Christian  ages,  while  per- 
secuting the  chosen  people,  the  foremost  nations  of 
the  world  have  taken  hold  of  their  skirts,  going 
with  them  to  their  sacred  shrines,  using  their  con- 
ceptions of  God,  appropriating  their  sacred  writings, 
and  venerating  their  lawgivers,  prophets,  and  saints, 
with  a  reverence  equal  to  their  own. 

There  is  also  a  time,  yet  future,  but  probably  not 
far  away,  when  the  Jewish  people  shall  be  brought 
to  own  the  claims  of  Jesus,  and  shall  look  on  Him 
with  repentance,  faith,  and  love;  and  then  they  will 
be  still  more  sought  after  by  the  nations  of  the 
world  as  the  representatives  and  teachers  of  the 
only  true  religion.  These  days  are  clearly  predicted ; 
and  the  signs  on  every  hand  corroborate  our  faith 


FASTS  TURNED  TO  FEASTS.  87 

that  it  shall  be  even  as  the  prophets,  and  this  prophet 
especially,  have  foretold. 

But  we  can  never  forget  that  this  vast  respect  of 
the  world  for  the  Jewish  people  dates  from  the 
Babylonish  captivity.  Before  that  they  were  too 
fickle  in  their  allegiance  to  Jehovah,  too  deeply 
tarred  by  the  vile  impurities  of  surrounding  peo- 
ples, to  win  either  audience  or  credence,  when  they 
advocated  their  own  religion.  What  respect  could 
the  nations  have  for  them,  when  the  heights  around 
Zion  were  covered  by  temples  to  foreign  deities; 
and  when  the  same  defiling  rites  were  practiced 
as  disgraced  the  fanes  of  Chemosh,  Molech,  and 
Astarte?  Abana  and  Pharpar  were  equal  to  any  of 
the  waters  of  Israel;  Balaam  was  as  Moses,  and 
Zoroaster  as  Elijah. 

But  the  captivity  altered  everything.  They 
entered  it  deeply  imbued  with  polytheism,  and  left  it 
the  strictest  monotheists  the  world  has  ever  seen. 
Their  sorrows  gave  birth  to  some  of  their  noblest 
Scriptures,  and  made  their  hold  on  the  sacred  Canon 
more  tenacious  than  ever.  Cast  out  by  man,  they 
fled  to  the  bosom  of  God.  Divorced  from  the  out- 
ward rites  of  the  temple,  they  were  driven  to  cling 
to  the  spiritual  realities,  of  which  the  Levitical 
institutions  were  only  transient  types.  Israel  owes 
all  the  influence  she  has  wielded  in  the  world  to  the 
anguish  which  culminated  in  the  conflagration  of 
the  temple;  and,  if  she  were  wise,  she  would  ever- 
more keep  those  ancient  anniversaries  of  despair  as 
birthdays  of  her  power.     Until  March,  the  farmer 


88  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

may  regard  with  regret  the  days  in  which  he  empties 
his  barns  of  their  precious  contents  to  cast  seed  into 
the  soil ;  but  when  April  comes,  and  all  the  furrows 
are  covered  with  the  green  spires  of  the  young  corn, 
he  reviews  those  dark  winter  days  with  congratula- 
tion, and  dates  from  them  his  glorious  heritage. 

From  this  historical  review,  we  are  led  to  appre- 
hend the  working  of  an  eternal  principle,  which  is 
thus  enunciated  elsewhere  by  the  Holy  Spirit: 
"Now  no  chastening  for  the  present  seemeth  to  be 
joyous,  but  grievous;  nevertheless,  afterward  it 
yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness  with 
them  that  are  exercised  thereby." 

We  have  all  had  our  dark,  sad  days.  The  day 
when  God  said  ''No"  to  some  eagerly  pressed  re- 
quest; or  when  life  was  overcast  by  a  dread  an- 
nouncement concerning  our  own  life,  or  the  life  of 
one  dearer  to  us  than  life;  or  when  our  trust  in 
man's  faith  rocked  to  ruin.  We  have  put  a  black 
mark  against  those  days  in  our  calendar,  and  are 
apt,  as  these  anniversaries  occur,  to  give  ourselves 
to  unrestrained  sorrow.  It  is  natural,  and  God  does 
not  blame  the  tears  which  are  salt  with  rebellious 
repining.  It  is  natural  and  human,  as  we  sit  by  the 
crags  on  which  the  sea  breaks  heavily,  to  regret  the 
tender  grave  of  a  day  that  is  dead,  and  to  long  for 
the  sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still,  and  to  borrow  from 
Job's  magnificent  soliloquy : 

Let  that  day  be  darkness; 

Let  not  God  regard  it  from  above, 

Neither  let  the  light  shine  upon  it. 


FASTS  TURNED  Tq  FEASTS.  89 

Let  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death  claim  it  for 
their  own.  But  this  will  not  be  our  final  verdict. 
Probably  in  the  golden  sunset  of  our  life,  when  we 
can  see  its  true  meaning  and  perspective,  when  its 
various  parts  are  fitted  together  like  the  variously 
shaped  pieces  of  our  childhood's  puzzles,  we  shall 
see  reason  to  thank  God  most  for  our  darkest  days, 
so  long  as  they  are  not  days  of  sin,  and  to  keep  them 
as  feasts  in  the  eternal  noon  of  heaven.  We  shall 
perceive  that  out  of  the  darkness  light  was  born ;  out 
of  the  anguish  joy  was  born;  out  of  the  trial  we 
entered  into  God's  blessed  peace. 

That  day,  when  God  said  *'No"  to  your  hot 
desires,  was  the  day  of  your  weaning  from  the  babe- 
life  into  the  strength  and  growth  of  an  independent 
existence.  That  day,  when  a  dark  cloud  settled  on 
all  your  hopes,  was  the  beginning  of  your  new 
appreciation  of  the  eternal  constellations,  shining 
unnoticed  in  your  sky.  That  day,  when  your  Joseph 
was  torn  from  you,  was  really  necessary  to  those 
seventeen  years  of  prosperity  in  the  sunshine  of 
Egypt's  favor.  That  day  of  captivity,  which 
snatched  you  from  your  busy  life,  to  share  Paul's 
four  years'  imprisonment  at  Cesarea  and  Rome, 
gave  birth  to  deeper  views  of  the  nature  of  Jesus; 
so  that,  whereas  you  had  only  known  Him  as  the 
Divine  Substitute,  you  came  to  know  Him  in  his 
heavenly  glory,  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  God ;  and 
your  discoveries  not  only  comforted  your  stricken 
heart,  but  made  for  the  enrichment  of  the  world. 


90  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

Dare  to  believe  this ;  dare  to  anticipate  the  far-off 
interest  of  tears;  dare  to  live  in  the  day  which  is 
after  tomorrow.  As  Dante  said,  ''In  God's  will  is 
our  peace."  He  loves  us  infinitely.  No  good  thing 
will  He  withhold.  He  must  lay  deep  in  tears  the 
foundations  that  shall  upbear  our  eternal  weight  of 
glory : 

Thus  hath  He  done,  and  shall  we  not  adore  Him? 

This  shall  He  do,  and  can  we  still  despair? 
Come,  let  us  quickly  fling  ourselves  before  Him — 

Cast  at  his  feet  the  burden  of  our  care. 


(5ooD  1Rew0  tor  ipriaoners  ot  1bope. 

(Zechariah  ix.) 

There  is  a  change  in  the  phraseology  of  the  re- 
maining chapters  of  this  book.  Not  now  the  word 
of  the  Lord,  but  the  burden  of  the  word  of  the  Lord. 
By  this  term  we  are  prepared  for  tidings  of  sorrow 
and  disaster,  which  are  about  to  fall  on  the  nations 
addressed.  These  burdens  lay  heavily  on  the 
prophet's  soul,  who  was  probably  already  advanced 
in  years  when  he  announced  them.  There  is,  at 
least,  a  remarkable  contrast  between  the  visions  of 
the  earlier,  and  the  predictions  of  the  later  chapters. 
The  difference  has  even  led  some  critics  to  suppose 
that  they  were  added  by  another  hand;  but  this 
view,  founded  rather  on  internal  evidence,  cannot 
be  maintained  in  the  face  of  the  strong  external 
testimony  for  the  unity  of  the  authorship  of  this 
book. 

When  Zechariah  wrote  this  prophecy,  the  early 
troubles  of  the  returned  remnant  in  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  Temple  City,  and  State,  were  at  an  end ;  but 
they  were  hemmed  in  and  pressed  by  Tyre  on  the 
north,  and  by  Ashkelon,  Gaza,  and  Ekron  on  the 
south.     It  was  for  their  encouragement,  therefore, 

91 


92  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

that  he  foretold  an  approaching  invasion,  before 
which  their  strong  and  hostile  neighbors  would  be 
swept  away.  Though  Tyre  had  built  herself  a 
stronghold  on  an  apparently  impregnable  island, 
and  heaped  up  silver  as  the  dust,  and  fine  gold  as  the 
mire  of  the  streets,  and  though  her  counselors  were 
famous  for  their  wisdom,  the  Lord  would  dispossess 
her,  smiting  her  power  in  the  sea,  and  devouring  her 
palaces  with  fire.  And  the  devastation  which  would 
befall  Damascus  and  Hadrach  (a  part  of  Syria), 
would  extend  southward  till  the  worst  fears  of 
Gaza,  Ashkelon,  and  Ekron  would  be  realized  in 
their  utter  destruction.  Philistia  would  be  as  a 
young  lion  deprived  of  its  prey,  while  the  chosen 
city  would  be  defended  by  unseen  angel  forces.  "I 
will  encamp  about  mine  house  as  a  garrison,  that 
none  pass  through  or  return ;  and  no  oppressor  shall 
pass  through  them  any  more;  for  now  have  I  seen 
with  mine  eyes." 

All  these  predictions  were  literally  fulfilled  within 
a  few  years  by  the  invasion  of  the  third  of  the  great 
world-conquerors,  Alexander  the  Great.  Syria, 
New  Tyre,  and  the  old  seaboard,  including  the  cities 
of  Philistia,  fell  under  his  arms;  but  both  in  going 
and  returning,  he  spared  Jerusalem,  being  much  im- 
pressed by  a  dream,  in  which  he  was  warned  not  to 
approach  the  city,  and  by  a  solemn  procession  of 
priests  and  Levites,  headed  by  Jaddua,  the  high 
priest. 

Then  a  stream  of  exalted  prediction  ensues,  sweet 
as  the  refrain  of  an  angel's  hymn,  which,  as  the 


GOOD  NEWS  FOR  PRISONERS  OF  HOPE.       93 

Evangelist  tells  us,  was  fulfilled  when,  in  lowly  tri- 
umph, Jesus  entered  Jerusalem  at  the  beginning  of 
the  week  in  which  He  died.  'This  came  to  pass, 
that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  through 
the  prophet,  saying,  Tell  ye  the  daughter  of  Zion, 
Behold,  thy  king  cometh  unto  thee,  meek,  and  riding 
upon  an  ass,  and  upon  a  colt,  the  foal  of  an  ass." 
What  sublimity  there  is  in  the  prophet's  words,  in 
which  stress  is  laid  on  the  fact  that  the  king  who 
saves  is  lowly;  that  his  steed  is  not  the  richly- 
caparisoned  war-horse,  but  the  humble  ass;  and 
that  he  needs  neither  chariot  nor  battle-bow  for  the 
overthrow  of  his  foes;  but  speaks  peace  unto  the 
nations,  as  though  waving  his  hands  in  priestly 
benediction  over  the  troubled  waters;  and  lo,  there 
is  a  great  calm  (v.  9,  10). 

Then  follows  the  remarkable  promise  alluded  to 
in  the  heading  of  this  chapter.  "As  for  thee  also, 
because  of  the  blood  of  thy  covenant  I  have  sent 
forth  thy  prisoners  out  of  the  pit  wherein  is  no 
water.  Turn  you  to  the  stronghold,  ye  prisoners  of 
hope;  even  today  do  I  declare  that  I  will  render 
double  unto  thee." 

In  eastern  lands,  liable  to  long  spells  of  drought, 
it  is  customary  to  hew  cisterns  out  of  the  solid  rock 
for  the  storage  of  water,  that  provision  may  be 
made  against  the  failure  of  the  rains.  These  abound 
in  Palestine.  ''They  hewed  out  for  themselves  cis- 
terns." When  these  were  empty,  they  might  be 
used  for  other  purposes,  and  at  all  times  provided 
a  useful  retreat,  or  hiding-place,  from  the  Philistines 


94  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

or  other  hostile  neighbors,  who  periodically  poured 
up  through  the  valleys,  carrying  fire  and  sword  to 
the  peaceful  pastoral  and  agricultural  hamlets.  Such 
use  of  the  rock-hewn  cisterns  is  referred  to  in  these 
words,  It  seemed  to  the  prophet  as  though  Israel 
might  be  compared  to  a  terrified  peasantry,  shelter- 
ing in  some  dark,  dry,  mountain  cistern,  far  up 
from  the  valleys,  dreading  every  day  lest  their 
hiding-place  might  be  discovered,  and  themselves 
dragged  forth  to  dye  with  their  blood  the  green 
sward. 

Thus,  in  every  age  God's  people  have  been  im- 
prisoned. You  may  have  been  caught  in  the  snare 
of  this  world's  evil.  You  have  no  sympathy  with  it, 
yet  somehow  you  have  become  involved  in  the  snares 
and  toils  of  malign  combinations.  As  the  wild  thing 
of  the  forest,  bounding  carelessly  down  the  glade, 
suddenly  finds  itself  at  the  bottom  of  the  dark  pit 
prepared  and  hidden  by  the  hunter;  so  you,  who 
began  life  so  guilelessly,  and  passed  your  early  days 
so  blithely,  have  awoke  to  discover  yourself  in- 
volved with  people  and  things,  from  which  you 
cannot  disassociate  yourself.  You  have  no  desire 
for  them — they  chafe  and  try  you — but  you  cannot 
get  them  off.  It  seems  as  though  some  evil  spirit 
has  lassoed  you,  not  indeed  in  your  soul,  but  in  your 
home  and  circumstances. 

Or,  perhaps,  you  have  been  led  captive  by  the 
devil  at  his  will.  There  is  no  doubt  about  your  son- 
ship  ;  in  your  better  moments,  God's  Spirit  witnesses 
clearly  with  yours  that  you  have  been  born  again; 


GOOD  NEWS  FOR  PRISONERS  OF  HOPE.       95 

you  have  strong  yearnings  after  the  souls  of  others, 
and  at  times  are  marvelously  used  for  their  awaken- 
ing and  comfort;  and  yet,  during  long  and  sad 
periods  of  experience,  you  seem  the  bound  slave  of 
the  great  enemy  of  souls.  Swept  before  strong 
gusts  of  passion;  careening  in  the  dock;  water- 
logged until  progress  in  the  divine  life  seems  im- 
possible, and  you  can  only  drift  helplessly  to  and 
fro  on  the  tides. 

Or,  perhaps,  you  have  fallen  into  deep  despond- 
ency, partly  as  the  result  of  ill-health,  and  partly 
because  you  have  looked  off  the  face  of  Christ  to  the 
winds  and  waves.  The  clear-shining  of  his  love  is 
obscured,  and  at  times  it  is  difficult  to  believe  in 
anything  but  the  pressure  of  your  own  dark 
thoughts.  Some  of  God's  children  seem  to  choose 
the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  as  the  site  of  their 
dwelling,  and  then  employ  doubt,  dread,  and  de- 
spondency, to  design  and  build  the  house,  which  is 
sadly  like  a  gaol.  They  affect  the  somber  tint,  and 
the  despairful  tone;  and — strange  anomaly! — ap- 
pear happiest  when  abandoned  to  the  profoundest 
melancholy. 

All  such  are  prisoners,  hut  they  are  prisoners  of 
hope.  There  is  a  sure  and  certain  hope  of  their 
deliverance.  Out  of  their  prisons  they  shall  ulti- 
mately emerge,  as  Peter,  angel-led,  from  his.  The 
clouds  might  more  easily  succeed  in  imprisoning 
the  sun  than  any  of  these  dark  conditions  perma- 
nently hold  one  of  God's  children.  They  belong  to 
the  light  and  day ;  and,  though  they  see  it  not,  Hope, 


96  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

as  God's  angel,  is  standing  near,  only  waiting  his 
signal  to  open  the  prison  door.  The  prisoner,  on 
whom  the  sentence  of  capital  punishment  has  been 
passed,  and  who  has  no  strong,  wise  friends  to  inter- 
fere on  his  behalf,  may  well  abandon  hope  as  he 
passes  within  the  massive  walls  of  the  fortress,  and 
hears  the  heavy  gates,  one  after  another,  slammed 
and  locked  behind  him.  But  where  justice  and 
truth  are  on  his  side,  when  he  has  been  the  victim  of 
craft  and  guile,  if  there  be  a  good  wife  and  strong 
friends  to  espouse  his  cause,  though  he  be  incarcer- 
ated, bound  with  chains  on  the  Devil's  Island,  and 
though  the  weary  years  pass  over  him,  yet  he  is  a 
prisoner  of  hope,  and  shall  come  forth  again  into  the 
light  of  day.  All  God's  children  are  prisoners  of 
hope. 

Their  hope  rests  on  the  Blood  of  the  Covenant. 
"Because  of  the  blood  of  thy  covenant,  I  have  sent 
forth  thy  prisoners  out  of  the  pit."  When  God 
entered  into  covenant-relationship  with  Abraham, 
the  sacred  compact  was  ratified  by  the  mingled 
blood  of  an  heifer  of  three  years  old,  a  she-goat  of 
three  years  old,  a  ram  of  three  years  old,  a  turtle 
dove,  and  a  young  pigeon.  And,  in  after  years, 
when  beneath  the  beetling  cliffs  of  Sinai,  Moses 
acted  as  mediator  between  God  and  the  children  of 
Israel,  he  sent  young  men,  because  the  order  of 
priesthood  was  not  established,  which  offered  burnt- 
offerings  and  sacrificed  peace-offerings  of  oxen  unto 
the  Lord.  Then  Moses  took  the  blood  and  sprinkled 
part  on  the  altar,  and  part  on  the  people,  saying, 


GOOD  NEWS  FOR  PRISONERS  OF  HOPE.       97 

"Behold  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  which  the  Lord 
hath  made  with  you  concerning  all  these  words" 
(Gen.  XV.  9;  Exod.  xxiv.  7,  8). 

Similarly,  when  the  new  covenant — the  pro- 
visions of  which  are  enumerated  in  Heb.  viii. — was 
ratified,  it  was  in  the  blood  of  Jesus.  As  He  took 
the  cup,  He  said:  "This  is  my  blood  of  the  new 
covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many  unto  the  remission 
of  sins."  "And  for  this  cause  He  is  the  Mediator 
of  a  new  covenant."  The  shedding  of  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb  of  God  indicates  that  God  has  entered 
into  a  covenant  relationship  with  Him,  and  all 
whom  He  represents,  who  are,  by  faith,  members 
of  his  mystical  body,  the  Church.  On  his  side.  He 
promises  to  be  a  God  to  us,  and  to  take  us  to  be  his 
people;  on  our  side,  Christ  promises,  on  our  behalf, 
that  we  shall  be  a  people  for  his  own  possession, 
zealous  of  good  works.  This  covenant  embraces 
all  who  have  believed,  shall  believe,  and  do  believe 
in  Jesus.  It  embraces  thee,  if  thou  dost  at  this 
moment  simply  believe  in  Him  as  thine,  and  art 
willing  to  be  evermore  his.  And  in  placing  the  cup 
to  thy  lips  at  the  Holy  Supper,  thou  dost  visibly  and 
solemnly  attest  thy  belief  that  there  is  a  special  rela- 
tionship between  God  and  thee,  not  in  virtue  of  thy 
worthiness,  but  for  the  sake  of  his  Son,  that  great 
Shepherd,  who,  through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting 
Covenant,  was  brought  again  from  the  dead. 

Because  of  the  Blood  of  the  Covenant,  God  will 
send  forth  each  of  his  imprisoned  ones  out  of  the  pit. 
That  blood  binds  Him  to  interpose  on  their  behalf. 


98  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

Wherever  they  are,  and  however  thick-ribbed  the 
walls  of  their  prison,  God  must  deliver  them.  That 
they  might  have  strong  consolation.  He  has  con- 
firmed his  word  by  an  oath.  He  will  bow  the 
heavens  and  come  down,  will  ride  upon  a  cherub  and 
fly,  will  certainly  rescue  from  the  entanglements 
and  complications  of  evil. 

Suppose  two  men  were  bound  in  the  closest,  ten- 
derest  friendship,  not  needing  to  exchange  blood 
from  each  other's  veins,  as  the  manner  of  some  is, 
because  heart  had  already  exchanged  with  heart; 
and  suppose  one  of  these,  traveling  in  Calabria  or 
Anatolia,  was  captured  by  brigands  and  carried  into 
some  mountain  fastness,  threatened  with  death  un- 
less ransomed  by  an  immense  sum  of  money:  can 
you  imagine  his  friend  at  home,  in  the  enjoyment  of 
opulence  and  liberty,  settling  down  in  circumstances 
of  ease,  and  allowing  his  brother  to  suffer  his  miser- 
able fate,  with  no  effort  for  his  deliverance?  It  is 
impossible  to  imagine  such  a  thing!  With  tireless 
perseverance,  he  would  leave  no  stone  unturned, 
and  the  captive  might  rely  on  every  possible  effort 
being  made  for  his  deliverance.  So  it  is  with  God. 
Whatever  be  the  sad  combination  of  disaster  which 
has  overtaken  us.  He  is  bound  by  the  Holy  Cove- 
nant, sealed  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  to  spare  no  effort 
till  our  soul  is  escaped  as  a  bird  from  the  snare  of 
the  fowler,  until  the  snare  is  broken,  and  we  are 
escaped. 

There  is  a  remarkable  illustration  of  this  in  the 
story  of  the  conquest  of  Canaan.    By  guile,  the  men 


GOOD  NEWS  FOR  PRISONERS  OF  HOPE.       99 

of  Ai  betrayed  Israel  into  making  a  covenant  with 
them.  Three  days  after,  their  He  was  exposed ;  but 
the  princes  said,  '*We  have  sworn  unto  them  by  the 
Lord,  the  God  of  Israel;  now,  therefore,  we  will 
not  touch  them."  And  when  Ai  was  besieged  by 
neighboring  kings,  out  of  pure  revenge,  and  an 
appeal  was  made  for  help,  it  w^as  at  once  furnished, 
because  of  Israel's  troth.  So,  child  of  God,  if  you 
have  made  Jesus  your  King,  He  is  sure  to  succor 
you.  Behold,  thy  King  cometh,  O  prisoner  of  hope ! 
He  is  just,  and  therefore  he  has  salvation. 

Is  not  this  the  reason  why  some  of  us  are  not 
delivered?  We  should  be  glad  enough  to  accept 
deliverance,  but  are  not  prepared  to  pay  the  price. 
We  have  not  observed  the  divine  order,  and  crowned 
Jesus  King  of  our  hearts  and  lives.  We  are  wishful 
that  He  should  be  our  Saviour,  but  not  altogether 
prepared  to  accept  Him  as  King.  This  is  our  mis- 
take; God  hath  exalted  Him  to  be  a  Prince  and  a 
Saviour;  He  is  first  King  of  Righteousness,  before 
He  is  Priest  after  the  order  of  Melchisedek :  and  it 
is  only  when  we  confess  with  our  mouths  Jesus  as 
Lord,  that  we  shall  be  saved. 

But  do  not  fear  Him.  His  footfall  is  very  soft. 
He  is  lowly,  and  rides  upon  a  colt,  the  foal  of  an 
ass.  No  prancing  steed,  no  banner  flaunting  in  the 
breeze,  no  long  train  of  warriors.  Soft  as  the  sum- 
mer breeze ;  irresistible  as  the  summer  sunshine,  be- 
fore which  great  tubular  bridges  bend.  Lowly  as 
a  child — thy  King,  thy  King  is  here.  And  before 
his  advent  the  bars  are  broken,  as  though  ice  were 


lOO  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

thawing  drop  by  drop  in  spring,  and  letting  the  im- 
prisoned ship  through  the  close-set  floes. 

The  King  speaks  peace;  but  He  uses  his  eman- 
cipated ones  as  weapons  in  the  great  fight.  *'I  have 
bent  Judah  for  me"  (as  a  man  might  bend  his  bow)  ; 
"I  have  filled  my  bow  with  Ephraim"  (as  with  an 
arrow).  This,  in  the  first  instance,  refers  to  the 
struggle  of  the  Maccabees  against  Alexander's  suc- 
cessor— Antiochus — as  appears  in  the  following 
words :  'T  will  stir  up  thy  sons,  O  Zion,  against  thy 
sons,  O  Greece,  and  will  make  thee  as  the  sword  of 
a  mighty  man."  But  there  is  a  deeper  meaning, 
which  applies  to  us  all — Jesus  first  saved  us,  and 
then  we  become  as  arrows  in  the  hand  of  a  mighty 
man. 

O  prisoners  of  hope,  lift  up  your  heads !  your  sal- 
vation is  come  out  of  Zion.  Turn  you  to  the  strong- 
hold !  The  enemy  has  been  driven  from  his  posi- 
tion. There  is  no  more  fear  of  his  attack.  Take  up 
your  abode  in  the  stronghold  of  God's  care  and  love, 
in  the  fortress  of  his  Righteousness,  in  the  keep  of 
his  Covenant. 

As  we  turn  from  this  chapter,  we  cannot  but  feel 
that  it  contains  unexplored  depths,  which  no  previ- 
ous fulfillment  has  exhausted ;  and  which  are  prob- 
ably awaiting  further  developments,  which,  at  pres- 
ent, we  cannot  prognosticate.  When  the  closing 
verses  tell  us  of  what  God  will  do  for  his  people, 
"seen  over  them,"  "defending  them,"  "saving  them, 
as  the  stones  of  a  crown  glittering  on  high  over  his 
land" ;  when  our  attention  is  called  to  the  greatness 


GOOD  NEWS  FOR  PRISONERS  OF  HOPE.     lOl 

of  his  goodness  and  beauty  reflected  on  the  people 
of  his  choice — we  cannot  but  feel  that  days  are  com- 
ing in  which  He  shall  yet  more  conspicuously  and 
victoriously  interpose  on  their  behalf,  and  when,  lit- 
erally, his  dominion  shall  be  from  sea  to  sea,  and 
from  the  river  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  And  if  such 
a  surmise  be  true,  this  chapter  is  closely  related  to 
the  scenes  which  are  delineated  in  the  last  chapters 
of  this  book,  and  which  probably  lie  just  in  front 
of  us,  waiting  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  veiling 
curtain,  which  often  appears  to  move  with  prepara- 
tions for  the  events  behind  it. 


XL 

(Zechariah    X.) 

To  the  superficial  eye  there  is  no  difference  in  the 
distance  from  our  earth  of  the  planets  and  the  fixed 
stars;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  between  the  one  and 
the  other  there  is  a  vast  intervening  space  of  millions 
of  miles.  So  in  regard  to  these  predictions.  The 
prophet  searches  "what  manner  of  time"  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  which  is  in  him  signifies.  He  describes 
the  great  facts  revealed  to  him;  but  it  is  not  within 
his  province  to  announce  the  times  and  seasons 
which  the  Father  hath  kept  in  his  own  power.  He 
sees  the  mighty  mountain  ranges ;  but  it  is  left  for  us 
to  discover  that  deep  and  far-stretching  valleys  lie 
between  the  nearer  and  the  further,  between  the  first 
and  second  advents  of  Christ.  We  shall  find,  there- 
fore, the  prophet  passing  from  the  one  to  the  other, 
and  grouping  on  the  foreground  of  his  picture  in- 
cidents which  really  belong  to  different  ages  in  the 
world's  history.  Such  a  method  of  workmanship 
was  necessary,  if  prophecy  was  to  be  an  incentive  to 
faith  and  patience. 

We  have  already  had  an  illustration  of  this  in  the 
previous  chapter,  when  the  advent  of  the  Christ  on 

102 


GOD'S  SOWING.  103 

his  lowly  steed,  the  struggle  of  the  Maccabees,  and 
the  deliverance  of  Israel  in  the  last  years  of  this 
dispensation,  are  classed  together  as  though  pertain- 
ing to  the  same  epoch.  There  is  nothing  surprising 
in  such  grouping,  if  we  remember  that  our  Lord 
inserts  the  whole  Christian  dispensation  in  the  break 
of  a  single  comma  (compare  Isa.  Ixi.  2,  and  Luke 
iv.  19). 

In  this  chapter  and  the  next,  taken  as  one,  we 
detect  the  same  fact.  We  are  bidden,  in  the  first 
verse,  to  ask  for  the  latter  rain,  that  Pentecost 
which  is  to  close  the  present  age,  and  which  the 
apostle  Peter  describes  as  "times  of  refreshing  from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord."  These  are  to  be  ex- 
pected, he  tells  us,  when  the  Jewish  people  repent 
and  turn  again  to  God,  and  will  inaugurate  the  time 
of  restitution  of  all  things,  whereof  God  hath  spoken 
by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets,  which  have  been 
since  the  world  began.  And  the  rest  of  the  chapter 
may  be  interpreted  as  referring  to  the  same  events. 
But  the  next  deals  with  the  destruction  of  the  second 
temple  by  Titus,  and  the  rejection  of  the  true  Shep- 
herd. In  the  thirteenth  chapter  there  is  a  similar 
rapid  transition  from  the  final  cleansing  of  the 
chosen  people  to  the  awakening  of  the  sword  against 
the  Shepherd,  who  is  also  the  fellow  of  the  Lord  of 
Hosts.  And  probably  there  is  no  satisfactory  clue 
to  the  comprehension  of  the  Lord's  closing  utter- 
ances about  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  which  does  not 
recognize  the  same  principle.  He  passes  from  the 
close  of  one  age  to  that  of  the  other,  describing  both 


104  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

in  the  same  sentences ;  and  only  in  a  passing  phrase, 
as  when  He  speaks  of  the  fulfillment  of  the  times  of 
the  Gentiles,  does  He  open  to  our  view  the  mighty- 
gulf  of  time  which  was  destined  to  intervene. 

If  these  thoughts  are  borne  in  mind,  there  will 
be  no  obstacle  to  our  deriving  help  and  teaching 
from  these  chapters ;  and  in  the  last  days  of  this  dis- 
pensation we  shall  be  able,  with  tolerable  accuracy, 
to  assign  the  various  paragraphs  to  their  respective 
place  on  the  great  chart  of  God's  providential  gov- 
ernment. 

From  the  summons  to  ask  for  the  latter  rain, 
coupled  as  it  is  with  the  Divine  promise  of  a  gra- 
cious hearing,  we  are  led  to  a  graphic  description 
of  what  God  will  make  of  his  people — a  description 
which  was  partially  realized  in  the  successful  stand 
made  by  Judas  Maccabaeus  and  his  brethren  against 
Antiochus.  "Judah  was  as  his  goodly  horse  in  the 
battle.  From  him  came  forth  the  corner-stone,  from 
him  the  nail,  from  him  the  battle-bow,  from  him 
every  exactor  together."  The  following  description 
of  their  successes  against  their  foes,  treading  them 
down  in  the  battle,  as  mire  in  the  streets,  was  fully 
verified  during  that  brief  but  glorious  period,  when 
for  a  little  the  waning  splendor  of  the  Hebrew  people 
shone  out  in  its  pristine  beauty.  But  when  the 
prophet  goes  on  to  class  Joseph  with  Judah,  and  to 
speak  of  the  people  being  brought  again  from  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  the  mightiest  nations  being  hum- 
bled for  their  sake,  and  the  promised  land,  though 
inhabited  to  Lebanon  on  the  north  and  to  Gilead  on 


GOD'S  SOWING.  105 

the  east,  being  too  small  for  them,  we  feel  that 
there  looms  before  his  vision  something  greater  than 
has  taken  place,  or  shall  take  place,  till  God  sum- 
mons His  people  from  all  the  world  to  inhabit  their 
own  land — as  the  bee-farmer  hisses  for  his  bees, 
scattered  in  search  of  honey  throughout  meadows 
and  garden  (ver.  8). 

In  the  meanwhile,  during  the  present  age,  we  may 
view  the  Jewish  race  as  so  much  buried  seed.  "I 
will  sow  them  among  the  people;  and  they  shall 
remember  Me  in  far  countries;  and  they  shall  live 
with  their  children,  and  shall  return." 

x\t  the  end  of  the  seventy  years'  captivity  the 
people  of  God's  ancient  choice  were  distributed 
through  Parthia,  Media,  Persia,  Mesopotamia,  Cap- 
padocia,  Pontus,  Phrygia,  Pamphylia,  Egypt,  Libya 
and  Rome,  Crete  and  Arabia.  Everywhere  through- 
out the  great  Roman  Empire  they  fell  into  the 
ground  to  die.  So  far  as  their  natural  life  was  con- 
cerned, they  seemed  on  the  point  of  being  obliterated 
among  the  nations  of  the  world;  but  you  might  as 
well  talk  of  the  obliteration  of  the  seed  which  the 
husbandman  casts  into  the  autumn  furrows.  They 
built  their  synagogues,  throve  in  the  quarters  as- 
signed to  them  in  the  great  cities,  and  disseminated 
new  conceptions  of  God,  high  ethical  standards,  a 
fresh  religious  speech,  destined  to  be  of  incalculable 
service  to  the  early  preachers  of  Christ's  Evangel. 

At  this  present  hour  the  Jews  lie  sown  among  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth.  But  they  still  live,  with 
their  children,  and  shall  one  day  return.     There 


Io6  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

shall  be  springtime,  earing,  and  harvest.  The  sea 
of  affliction  has  too  long  rolled  over  them,  with  the 
thunder  of  its  mighty  billows.  Its  wide  expanse  has 
stretched  out  between  them  and  their  great  destiny ; 
but  their  Almighty  Friend  shall  yet  pass  through 
it,  smiting  its  waves  and  drying  up  its  depths, 
achieving  a  national  deliverance,  so  that  they  may 
reoccupy  the  land  given  in  covenant  to  their  fathers. 

It  was  thus  with  the  first  believers.  By  the  rough 
hand  of  the  persecutor,  the  rich  wheat  of  Pentecost, 
which  had  laid  too  long  in  the  bin  of  the  mother 
Church,  was  scattered  abroad  throughout  the  re- 
gions of  Judea  and  Samaria.  "They  therefore  that 
were  scattered  abroad  went  everywhere  preaching 
the  Word."  ''They  therefore  that  were  scattered 
abroad,  upon  the  tribulation  that  arose  about 
Stephen,  traveled  as  far  as  Phenicia,  and  Cyprus, 
and  Antioch."  These  spring  sowings  yielded  a  mar- 
velous return.  There  was  such  a  crop  of  churches 
and  converts  as  multiplied  the  original  number  of 
the  Church  a  hundredfold.  Though  there  was  a 
diminution  of  the  numbers  at  Jerusalem,  there  were 
sheaves  of  golden  corn  throughout  the  world's 
acreage. 

How  many  illustrations  have  existed,  throughout 
the  entire  history  of  the  Church,  of  the  effect  of 
God's  sowings !  "My  Father  is  the  Husbandman," 
said  our  Lord.  With  both  hands  He  has  prosecuted 
his  work  of  sowing.  In  the  persecutions  of  Nero, 
Decius,  and  Diocletianus,  the  precious  seed  of  the 
Kingdom  was  sown  deep  in  the  dark  graves  of  agony 


GOD'S  SOWING.  107 

and  death.  Surely  the  great  Sower  went  forth  weep- 
ing, as  He  bore  the  precious  seed  to  its  destined 
ministry.  It  was  buried  in  the  voracious  animals 
of  the  arena,  in  the  labyrinths  of  the  catacombs,  in 
the  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth;  but  it  lived  again 
in  millions  of  converts  that  so  filled  the  earth  as  to 
appall  and  silence  their  persecutors.  The  emperors 
at  last  gave  up  the  work  of  slaughter,  because 
martyrdoms  only  served  to  root  Christianity  deeper 
in  the  empire.  The  blood  of  the  martyrs  became 
the  seed  of  the  Church. 

There  was  a  grand  quality  in  the  corn  of  the 
Waldensian  Valleys,  in  the  Paulicians,  the  Hus- 
sites, the  Lollards,  which  was  sown  by  the  Master 
in  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition,  in  mockings  and 
scourgings,  in  bonds  and  imprisonment,  in  the  fires 
of  martyrdom,  and  in  the  current  of  swiftly-flowing 
rivers.  But  what  harvests  it  all  yielded!  There 
was,  for  instance,  the  harvest  of  the  Reformation 
in  Germany,  of  the  Huguenots  in  France,  and  of 
the  Puritans  in  England.  It  would  be  impossible 
to  compute  the  vast  hosts  of  the  true  disciples  of 
Jesus  through  the  dreary  Middle  Ages,  because  the 
apostate  Church  has  concealed  their  number  and 
misrepresented  their  influence.  But  many  pages 
of  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life  must  be  filled  with  their 
names.  "A  great  multitude  which  no  man  can 
number,  of  every  nation,  and  tribe,  and  people." 

So  in  later  days.  The  martyrs  of  Uganda  have 
yielded  today  three  hundred  Christian  churches. 
The  devoted  labors  of  saintly  missionaries  in  India, 


io8  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

Burmah,  China,  and  Africa,  who  fell  into  the  ground 
of  obscurity,  and  loneliness,  and  disappointment,  and 
died  among  strangers,  many  of  them  prematurely 
or  violently — have  resulted  in  the  salvation  of 
myriads.  There  was  a  handful  of  corn  in  the  tops 
of  mountains,  in  the  ledges,  where  the  earth  was 
deep  and  rich  enough  to  admit  of  a  grave  being 
dug,  and  the  fruit  thereof  has  shaken  like  Lebanon. 

In  all  probability  many  of  the  children  of  God  who 
read  these  lines  know  what  sowing  means.  They, 
too,  have  fallen  into  the  ground  to  die.  That  ob- 
scure village  in  which  your  friends  say  you  are 
buried ;  that  humble  position  in  which  your  powers 
are  cramped  and  limited  by  neglect  and  confinement ; 
that  bed  of  suffering  and  weakness;  that  incessant 
demand  to  undertake  menial  and  lowly  drudging; 
that  summons  to  leave  home  and  friends,  and  sphere 
of  successful  labor,  to  become  the  companion  of 
savage  and  illiterate  people — all  this  is  the  grave, 
with  its  darkness  and  silence,  in  which  God  sows 
his  people ;  not  that  they  should  abide  there  forever, 
but  that  they  should  bring  forth  much  fruit.  You 
shall  live  through  other  lives.  Your  prayers  and 
alms  shall  be  a  memorial  before  God,  and  the  day 
shall  reveal  the  wonderful  ways  in  which  you  have 
no  longer  abode  alone. 

Listen  to  the  complaint  of  the  buried  seed :  "Lord, 
in  trouble  have  we  visited  Thee.  We  have  poured 
out  our  prayer  when  thy  chastening  was  upon  us. 
We  have  been  with  child;  we  have  been  in  pain; 
we  have,  as  it  were,  brought  forth  wind;  we  have 


GOD'S  SOWING.  109 

not  wrought  any  deliverance  in  the  earth,  neither 
have  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  fallen."  And  here 
is  the  Divine  response:  'Thy  dead  shall  live;  my 
dead  bodies  shall  arise.  Awake  and  sing,  ye  that 
dwell  in  the  dust ;  for  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs, 
and  the  earth  shall  cast  forth  the  dead." 

Sowing  means  death.  * 'Except  a  corn  of  wheat 
fall  into  the  ground  and  die  *  *  *  "  We  must  be 
prepared  to  die,  not  only  to  sins,  and  weights,  and 
self-indulgences,  but  to  our  own  notions  of  pleasing 
God,  to  our  emotional  life,  to  our  self -congratula- 
tion at  the  results  of  Christian  service,  to  the  energy 
and  enthusiasm  of  our  devotion.  The  little  corn 
of  wheat  must  feel  very  disconsolate  when  it  finds 
itself  attacked  by  chemical  agents  lurking  in  the 
soil,  that  begin  to  tear  at  its  integuments  and  strike 
their  rapiers  at  its  heart.  It  is  sad  at  having  to 
surrender  its  beauty  of  form,  its  sprightly  nimble- 
ness,  its  secret  soul.  Dying  is  not  easy  work.  And 
when  the  process  is  prolonged,  when  the  disintegra- 
tion of  the  self-energy  takes  place  by  slow  degrees, 
it  is  bitter  to  bear. 

Sowing  means  darkness.  Through  long  months 
the  seed  lies  in  darkness  and  has  no  light.  Madame 
Guyon  tells  of  prolonged  seasons  in  which  she  lost 
all  the  joy  of  God,  that  she  might  be  led  to  God 
Himself.  It  is  a  strange  experience ;  "God  removes 
all  conscious  experience  of  his  grace,  all  power  to 
work  for  Him,  and  the  very  beauty  of  the  Divine 
virtues."  The  soul  does  not  fall  away  from  God, 
because  He  is  beside  it  while  it  treads  the  dark 


1 10  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

valley;  but  it  goes  ever  deeper  into  the  grave  of 
Jesus — no  song  on  its  lips,  no  rapture  at  its  heart, 
no  ray  of  sunlight  from  the  former  sources  of  hope 
and  consolatior- . 

Sowing  means  loneliness.  The  corn  of  wheat  falls 
into  the  ground  to  die,  that  it  may  not  abide  alone; 
but  this  dying  is  necessarily  a  long  experience.  Each 
man  is  born  alone,  and  aloie  he  dies.  God  will 
perhaps  touch  your  friends,  and  you  will  be  sepa- 
rated from  them  by  misunderstandings;  your  home 
life,  so  that  your  dearest  will  be  called  from  your 
side;  your  church  relationships,  and  you  will  have 
to  go  forth  without  the  camp,  bearing  his  reproach. 
But  there  is  no  one  who  has  left  brethren,  or  sister, 
or  father,  or  mother,  or  children,  for  Christ's  sake, 
that  shall  not  receive  a  hundredfold  in  this  time, 
houses,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  and  mothers,  and 
children;  and  in  the  age  to  come  eternal  life. 

But  God  does  not  forget  the  buried  seed.  Can  a 
woman  forget  her  sucking  child?  Can  a  farmer 
forget  the  seed  which  at  so  much  pains  he  flung 
abroad  on  the  brown  furrows?  Can  God  forget 
those  who  have  not  counted  their  lives  dear  unto 
themselves,  but  for  his  sake  have  been  killed  all  the 
day  long,  and  counted  as  sheep  for  the  slaughter? 
They  shall  be  his,  in  the  day  that  He  shall  make 
even  his  peculiar  treasure. 

In  that  wonderful  ladder  or  scale  of  ascending 
prayer,  of  which  we  are  informed  in  Hosea,  we  hear 
the  heaven  calling  to  God,  the  earth  calling  to 
heaven,  and  the  corn,  wine,  and  oil  calling  to  the 


GOD'S  SOWING.  Ill 

earth,  and  Jezreel  (the  sown)  calling  to  the  corn, 
wine,  and  oil.  And  as  the  result  of  these  appeals, 
ringing  through  earth  and  heaven,  He  who  had 
sown  his  people  in  the  earth,  has  mercy  on  them, 
and  says,  Thou  art  my  people;  and  they  say  unto 
Him,  Thou  art  our  God.  "Doubtless  Thou  art  our 
Father,  though  Abraham  knoweth  us  not,  and  Israel 
doth  not  acknowledge  us:  Thou,  O  Lord,  art  our 
Father,  our  Redeemer  from  everlasting." 

When  the  destined  hour  has  come  the  buried 
seed  hears  the  call  of  spring  to  arise  and  come  forth 
from  her  cell.  The  voice  that  bade  Lazarus  come 
forth  is  heard  deep  down  in  the  recesses  of  the 
earth.  That  which  was  in  the  grave  hears  the  voice 
of  the  Word  of  God,  and  comes  forth.  How  beau- 
tifully the  words  of  the  prophet's  vision  lend  them- 
selves to  the  metamorphosis  of  the  spring:  "So  I 
prophesied  as  He  commanded  me,  and  the  breath 
came  into  them,  and  they  lived,  and  stood  upon  their 
feet,  an  exceeding  great  army." 

Yes,  buried  ones,  God  does  not  forget  your  work 
and  the  love  which  ye  have  showed  toward  his 
name,  in  that  ye  have  ministered  to  his  saints,  and 
still  minister,  though  your  ministries  be  hidden  from 
the  admiration  of  the  great  world.  Your  resurrec- 
tion is  guaranteed.  You  may  not  be  able  to  dis- 
cover the  body  of  usefulness  with  which  you  will 
be  clothed.  God  will  give  you  your  body  as  it  pleases 
Him,  and  to  each  its  own.  But  your  death  shall  be 
swallowed  up  in  the  victory  of  life,  and  God  shall 
wipe  all  tears  from  your  eyes. 


112  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

And  that  new  life  will  he  God's.  'They  shall  re- 
member Me,  *  *  *  and  they  shall  live."  Jesus  said 
that  he  who  believed  in  Him,  through  he  were 
dead,  yet  should  he  live.  Now,  to  believe  is  to  re- 
ceive. Evidently,  then,  the  life  which  comes  after 
death  is  by  the  reception  into  our  spirit  of  Him  who 
is  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life.  We  obtain  by 
union  with  Jesus,  and  direct  from  God,  all  that  we 
had  previously  sought  in  his  service,  his  gifts,  his 
people. 

''The  soul  lives  no  longer,  works  no  longer  of 
itself.  It  is  God  (by  the  Holy  Spirit)  who  lives, 
works,  operates  within  it.  This  goes  on  increas- 
ingly, so  that  it  becomes  rich  with  his  riches.  It  is 
also  enriched  and  revivified  by  degrees  as  it  was 
stripped  by  degrees  (2  Cor.  iii.  18).  The  soul  lives 
with  the  life  of  God.  He  being  the  principle  of  life, 
it  cannot  want  for  anything.  It  has  lost  the  created 
for  the  Creator;  nothingness  for  all  things.  All  is 
given  to  it  in  God,  not  to  possess,  but  to  be  pos- 
sessed"  (2  Cor.  vi.  10;  Col.  ii.  9). 

You  have,  as  it  were,  been  buried  in  Egypt;  but 
God  is  going  before  you,  smiting  the  waves  of  the 
sea  and  drying  up  the  depths  of  the  mighty  river, 
which  had  seemed  an  impassable  barrier.  He  will 
strengthen  you  to  follow  Him;  only  dare  to  step 
out  in  faith,  and  you  shall  walk  up  and  down  in  his 
name   (x.  12). 

Who  shall  estimate  the  results?  One  head  of 
corn  may  have  fifty  seed-corns,  and  each  of  these 
fifty,  and  each  of  these  again  fifty.    At  this  rate  we 


GOD'S  SOWING.  113 

may  soon  arrive  at  tens  of  thousands.  Behold  the 
revenue  of  your  tears,  and  prayers,  and  anguish. 
God  will  richly  compensate.  Lift  up  thine  eyes  and 
see.  They  gather  themselves  together,  they  come  to 
thee ;  thy  sons  shall  come  from  far,  and  thy  daugh- 
ters borne  in  arms.  The  little  one  shall  become  a 
thousand,  and  the  small  one  a  strong  nation,  because 
the  Lord  will  hasten  it  in  his  time. 


XII. 
Zbc  SbepberO  of  ITsraeL 

(Zechariah  xi.  1-17;  xiii.  5-9.) 

If  these  two  passages  are  read  together,  it  will  be 
observed  that  they  give  some  remarkable  foreshad- 
owings  of  the  ministry  of  the  Messiah  to  his  flock 
of  the  chosen  people,  as  well  as  to  those  other  sheep 
of  which  He  spake,  as  not  of  that  fold,  but  which 
He  must  bring,  that  they  should  become  one  flock, 
one  Shepherd  (John  x.  16). 

Five  hundred  years  before  Judas  sold  the  true 
Shepherd  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver — the  price  of  a 
slave — and  then,  seized  with  remorse,  flung  the  price 
of  blood  upon  the  Temple  pavement,  that  scene  had 
been  enacted  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  freshly 
risen  from  their  ruins.  There  is  prophecy  in  action, 
as  well  as  prediction ;  and  the  Holy  Spirit  often  led 
the  prophets  to  embody  in  striking  deeds  the  con- 
ceptions of  the  future  which  had  been  impressed  on 
their  own  minds. 

At  the  time  of  which  we  write  the  Jewish  people 
seem  to  have  been  specially  unfortunate.  Joshua 
and  Zerubbabel  had  both  passed  away,  and  the  rulers 
and  priests  who  had  succeeded  them  were  actuated 
by  the  most  violent  passions.     They  resembled  fire 

114 


THE  SHEPHERD  OF  ISRAEL.  1 1 5 

devouring  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  or  the  ax  by  which 
the  oaks  of  Bashan  are  felled.  They  slew  the  flock 
for  the  fleece,  and  the  people  became  a  prey  to  their 
rapacious  appetite  for  self-aggrandisement.  "They 
that  sell  them  say,  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  for  I  am 
rich,  and  their  own  shepherds  pity  them  not."  Hand 
was  raised  against  hand,  the  rich  plundered  the  poor, 
the  rulers  {his  king,  verse  6)  smote  the  land  with 
their  violence  and  injustice,  and  every  weaker  one 
was  delivered  over  to  the  oppression  of  high-handed 
wrong. 

It  was  under  such  circumstances  that  Zechariah 
felt  called  upon  to  become  the  shepherd  of  Jehovah's 
harried  flock,  and  to  stand  in  the  breach  which 
should  have  been  filled  by  faithful  and  righteous 
men.  Whether  Israel  generally  recognized  his  pas- 
toral authority  does  not  appear;  but  he  realized 
strongly  the  call  of  God,  and  fed  the  flock  of  slaugh- 
ter, verily  the  most  miserable  of  sheep  (verse  7, 
R.  v.^  marg.). 

Two  staves  were  in  his  hand :  the  one  a  club  to 
beat  back  the  beasts  of  prey;  the  other  the  crook, 
with  which  to  extricate  any  of  his  charge  that  might 
be  entangled  in  pit  or  thicket.  The  one  was  called 
Beauty,  or  Grace ;  the  other  Bands,  or  Union.  These 
were  the  rod  and  staff  of  which  David  had  sung  in 
earlier  days,  and  they  represent  God's  perpetual  atti- 
tude toward  his  sheep.  He  ever  deals  with  them 
in  abundant  grace;  He  is  united  to  them,  as  they 
should  be  united  to  each  other,  by  the  bonds  of 
everlasting  love. 


1 16  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

Three  shepherds,  which  probably  stand  for  the 
threefold  office  of  Priest,  Prophet,  and  King,  had 
already  failed  in  the  difficult  work  of  restoring  order 
to  the  disturbed  and  distressed  land.  There  had  been 
an  inalienable  disagreement  between  the  Divine 
Spirit  and  them.  ''My  soul  was  weary  of  them,  and 
their  soul  also  loathed  Me." 

After  a  brief  effort  to  reclaim  Israel  for  its  true 
Shepherd,  Zechariah  renounced  the  attempt,  saying, 
'T  will  not  feed  you:  that  that  dieth,  let  it  die;  and 
that  that  is  to  be  cut  off,  let  it  be  cut  off;  and  let 
them  which  are  left,  eat  every  one  the  flesh  of  an- 
other." He  broke  his  staff  of  beauteous  grace,  and 
cut  it  asunder,  as  though  the  tender  love  of  God  had 
withdrawn  from  its  long  wrestle  with  indomitable 
pride  and  self-will.  As  he  did  so,  the  poor  of  the 
flock  that  gave  heed  unto  him,  knew  that  he  was 
acting  in  accord  with  the  word  of  the  Lord  (verse 

II). 

Then  came  the  crucial  test.  The  prophet  chal- 
lenged the  people  to  appraise  his  services,  to  give  him 
their  estimate  in  money  value.  "I  said  unto  them.  If 
ye  think  good,  give  me  my  hire;  and  if  not,  forbear." 
This  incident  may  have  taken  place  in  the  Temple, 
as  he  stood  with  his  remaining  staff  in  hand,  face 
to  face  with  those  that  held  priestly  office,  though 
they  lacked  the  priestly  heart.  In  contempt  and 
scorn  they  weighed  out  to  him  thirty  pieces  of  sil- 
ver, the  price  of  a  slave.  "There,  prophet  of  God," 
they  seemed  to  say,  "take  that !  Thy  services  are  as 
worthless  to  the  community  as  those  of  some  obscure 


THE  SHEPHERD  OF  ISRAEL.  H? 

menial  employed  in  the  lowest  service !"  A  goodly 
price  indeed  for  a  man's  prayers  and  tears,  for  a 
heart  of  compassion,  and  a  life  of  absolute  self-sur- 
render! ''Cast  it  unto  the  potter,"  said  the  inner 
voice;  and,  as  for  this  people,  they  shall  pass  into 
the  hand  of  rulers,  who  shall  eat  the  flesh  of  the  fat, 
and  drive  them  along  paths  so  rough  and  flinty  that 
their  hoofs  will  be  torn  in  pieces — a  prediction  which 
had  a  terrible  fulfillment  in  the  days  of  Antiochus 
and  of  Herod  the  Great. 

Thereupon  the  prophet  also  broke  in  pieces  the 
other  staff,  Bands,  that  the  brotherhood  between 
Judah  and  Israel  might  be  broken  in  symbol,  as 
afterward  in  reality.  How  evidently  that  brother- 
hood is  broken  today!  The  Jews  among  us  are 
the  descendants  of  Judah  and  Benjamin;  but  where 
are  the  ten  tribes  ? 

In  the  following  paragraph  (vers.  15-17)  there 
is  a  further  evident  reference  to  the  terrible  reign 
of  Antiochus,  whose  cruelties  toward  the  Jews  in- 
stigated the  heroic  uprising  of  the  Maccabees  and 
their  adherents,  and  led  to  deeds  of  faith  and  prowess 
which  will  be  forever  famous  in  the  annals  of  the 
world. 

Five  centuries  passed,  and  Jehovah  made  one  last 
effort  to  reclaim  his  wandering  sheep,  who  were 
"distressed  and  scattered,  as  sheep  not  having  a 
shepherd"  (Matt.  ix.  36).  Full  of  grace  and  truth, 
fresh  from  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  Jesus  was  sent 
to  gather  the  flock,  which  had  been  scattered  in  the 
cloudy  and  dark  day.      It  was  already  a  flock  of 


1 18  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

slaughter  when  He  began  his  ministry.  The  dark 
shadows  of  that  awful  storm  of  disaster  and  de- 
struction, which  was,  within  a  period  of  forty  years, 
to  sweep  Mount  Zion  bare,  had  already  commenced 
to  brook  ominously  over  the  devoted  race.  If  his 
gracious  offices  had  been  recognized  and  accepted, 
that  slaughter  might  have  been  averted.  With  his 
staff  of  grace  and  his  crook  of  love,  the  Good  Shep- 
herd might  have  brought  his  flock  from  out  the 
dangers  that  threatened  it,  and  realized  the  ancient 
prediction  of  Ezekiel :  "I  will  feed  them  with  good 
pasture,  and  upon  the  mountains  of  the  height  of 
Israel  shall  their  fold  be;  there  shall  they  lie  down 
in  a  good  fold,  and  on  fat  pasture  shall  they  feed 
upon  the  mountains  of  Israel."  But  they  would 
have  none  of  Him.  He  would  have  gathered  them 
as  the  hen  her  brood,  yet  they  would  not.  There- 
fore He  was  compelled  to  break  his  rod  and  staff, 
and  abandon  them  to  the  results  of  their  sin.  He 
was  compelled  to  abandon  his  earnest  endeavors, 
and,  quitting  the  Temple,  uttered  the  ominous  words, 
"Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate.  For 
I  say  unto  you.  Ye  shall  not  see  Me  henceforth  till 
ye  shall  say.  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord" — a  prediction  which  probably  refers  to 
the  period  described  in  the  last  chapter  of  this  book. 
As  Jesus  withdrew  from  the  Temple,  the  last  effort 
of  Jehovah  to  save  Israel  as  a  nation  was  frustrated ; 
the  greatest  of  her  prophets  had  failed,  and  the  last 
barrier  to  the  catastrophe  of  descending  judgment 
was  removed. 


THE  SHEPHERD  OF  ISRAEL.  1 19 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  the  nation  was  chal- 
lenged to  appraise  the  worth  of  the  Saviour's  min- 
istry. Between  Judas  and  the  priests  a  monstrous 
bargain  was  struck.  'They  weighed  unto  him  thirty 
pieces  of  silver."  This  meager  dole  of  the  priests 
stands  in  grim  contrast  to  the  priceless  gift  of  Mary's 
ointment,  at  which  Judas  caviled ;  but  for  this,  and 
so  little  as  this,  the  Messiah  was  sold,  betrayed,  and 
done  to  death. 

Rejected  by  his  own,  the  people  whom  He  ar- 
dently longed  to  save,  and  forsaken  by  his  chosen 
followers,  the  Good  Shepherd  went  forth  alone  to 
meet  the  sword.  Not  the  sword  of  Caiaphas,  or  the 
priests;  not  the  sword  of  Pilate,  or  the  Romans; 
not  the  sword  of  impending  justice — but  the  sword 
of  righteous  retribution  for  the  sins  of  Israel,  and 
the  sins  of  the  world.  Jew  though  He  were  by 
birth,  He  was  more.  The  Son  of  Man,  the  second 
Adam,  the  Lord  from  Heaven — such  are  the  desig- 
nations placed  on  his  head,  like  many  crowns.  It 
was  as  the  representative  of  the  race  that  He  went 
to  receive  into  his  own  heart  the  penalty  which,  like 
the  sword  of  Damocles,  hanging  by  a  hair,  impended 
not  over  Jerusalem  alone,  but  over  the  world.  He 
had  heard  the  mysterious  summons  sounding 
through  the  courts  of  the  Temple,  and  along  the 
corridors  of  time,  "Awake,  O  sword,  against  my 
Shepherd,  and.  against  the  Man  that  is  my  Fellow, 
saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts.    Smite  the  Shepherd.'* 

That  sword  had  flashed  in  the  hand  of  the  Cheru- 
bim, at  the  gate  of  Eden;  had  turned  every  way  to 


I20  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

guard  the  path  to  the  Tree  of  Life ;  had  threatened 
to  pursue  the  transgressing  pair  with  its  relentless 
edge.  It  was  the  sword  of  justice,  the  two-edged 
sword  of  the  Word  of  God,  which  avenges  dis- 
obedience with  death.  For  four  thousand  years 
it  had  slept  in  its  scabbard,  pacified,  if  we  may  say 
so,  by  the  Divine  assurance  that  the  mercy  shown  to 
men  would  be  reconciled  with  the  due  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  righteous  demands  of  a  broken  law. 
But  it  could  not  sleep  forever.  God's  promise  must 
be  redeemed,  and  his  guarantee  made  good ;  and  so, 
in  the  fullness  of  time,  Jesus  was  set  forth  as  a 
propitiation,  showing  the  Divine  righteousness  in 
passing  over  sins  done  aforetime,  in  the  forbear- 
ance of  God,  and  enabling  God  Himself  to  be  just, 
and  the  Justifier  of  those  that  have  faith  in  Jesus. 

When  our  Lord  was  arrested  in  the  garden,  con- 
demned by  his  judges,  and,  finally,  nailed  to  the 
cross ;  when  his  heart  broke  with  uncontrollable  and 
unfathomed  grief ;  when  the  soldier  took  a  spear  and 
pierced  his  side — simultaneously  with  these  outward 
scenes  there  was  the  awakening  of  the  sword  of 
Divine  justice,  which  pierced  and  laid  bare  his  heart. 
"He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions.  He  was 
bruised  for  our  iniquities:  the  chastisement  of  our 
peace  was  upon  Him;  and  with  his  stripes  we  are 
healed."  We  cannot  penetrate  the  deep  mystery 
w^hich  veils  the  cross,  or  understand  how  the  suffer- 
ing of  the  Shepherd  could  be  counted  as  equivalent 
to  our  bearing  the  results  of  our  sins.  It  is  difficult 
to  comprehend  the  transferrence  of  penalty  from  a 


THE  SHEPHERD  OF  ISRAEL.  121 

sinful  race  to  the  sinless  Substitute.  But  it  is  im- 
possible to  read  the  inspired  statements  that  describe 
the  death  of  Christ  without  realizing  that,  in  some 
way,  which  we  shall,  perhaps,  understand  in  heaven, 
He  met  and  satisfied  the  claims  of  violated  law,  so 
that  it  can  ask  no  more.  The  quotation  of  this  verse 
by  our  Lord  Himself  on  the  threshold  of  Geth- 
semane  (Matt.  xxvi.  31)  indicates,  with  unerring 
precision,  its  reference  and  fulfillment;  and  we  be- 
lieve that  because  the  sword  was  plunged  in  his 
heart,  it  will  sleep  forever.  The  law  is  magnified 
and  honored,  as  it  could  not  be  by  the  destruction 
of  a  race.  However  much  we  prize  the  death  of 
Christ,  our  Lord,  as  an  example  of  patience  and 
self-sacrifice,  we  must  never  forget  that  He  did  for 
us  what  we  never  could  have  done  for  ourselves  in 
magnifying,  satisfying,  and  honoring  the  claims  of 
the  Divine  law. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  how  our  Lord  quotes 
this  summons  to  the  sword.  The  prophet  hears  it 
addressed  directly  by  the  lips  of  God,  "Awake,  O 
sword,  against  my  Fellow";  but  in  the  thought  of 
Jesus,  it  was  not  a  dumb  and  impersonal  agent 
merely,  with  power  of  automatic  or  self-prompted 
action,  but  an  instrument  in  his  Father's  hand.  In 
his  lips  the  quotations  stands:  *7  will  smite  the 
Shepherd."  With  Him  there  was  no  vague  abstrac- 
tion or  impersonality.  It  was  not  an  attitude  or 
quality  of  the  Divine  nature,  such  as  justice  or 
righteousness,  that  drew  the  sword  from  its  scab- 
bard and  plunged  it  in  his  heart.     He  even  refused 


122  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

to  see  Judas,  Caiaphas,  or  Pilate.  Passing  by  all 
these  secondary  causes,  He  sped  into  the  very  pres- 
ence of  the  Father,  and  realized  that  the  cup  was 
mixed,  the  death  of  the  cross  arranged,  and  the 
sword  wielded  by  Him.  This  enabled  Him  to  bear 
his  unutterable  woe  with  yielded  will  and  acquiescing 
heart. 

In  this,  O  child  of  God,  learn  a  life  lesson.  In  all 
anxieties,  in  troubles  that  men  may  cause  to  thee, 
refuse  to  consider  thyself  a  prey  of  their  wild  will, 
as  though  thou  wert  a  storm-driven  leaf ;  but  dare  to 
believe  that  what  God  permits  to  come  is  his  ap- 
pointment, and  that  amid  all  the  plottings  and  mach- 
inations of  human  malice  runs  a  Divine  purpose. 

The  infinite  meaning  and  value  of  the  death  of 
the  Cross  are  indicated  by  the  three  significant  ap- 
pellations with  which  the  Sufferer  is  addressed. 

My  Shepherd. — Mark  that  emphatic  my.  It  is 
as  though  Jehovah  would  contrast  the  Shepherd  of 
his  choosing  with  those  that  had  been  selected  by 
human  caprice.  His  Davids  against  the  people's 
Sauls.  From  out  of  the  family  of  man  God  has 
drawn,  and  is  drawing,  certain  who  are  attracted  by 
a  special  affinity  to  his  Son,  wrought  in  them  by 
his  Holy  Spirit;  and  these  are  accounted  his  flock, 
and  are  entrusted  to  his  pastoral  care.  They  were 
the  Father's ;  but  the  Father  has  made  them  over  to 
the  Son,  according  to  Christ's  own  words:  "Thine 
they  were,  and  Thou  gavest  them  Me,  *  *  *  and 
these  have  known  that  Thou  didst  send  Me."  Dis- 
tinguished from  the  rest  of  men — ^because  they  hear 


THE  SHEPHERD  OF  ISRAEL.  123 

the  Shepherd's  voice,  know,  and  follow  Him — these 
enjoy  immediately  and  intimately  his  pastoral  care. 
He  guides  them  over  the  wolds  of  time,  feeding  them 
on  the  green  pastures,  and  beside  the  still  waters; 
conducting  them  through  darksome  gorges  and  dan- 
gerous glens;  defending  them  from  lion  and  bear 
with  rod  and  staff ;  and  even  in  the  realms  of  glory 
not  ceasing  to  be  their  Shepherd.  They  follow  Him 
even  deeper  into  the  heart  of  eternity,  where  the 
fountains  of  life  first  break  forth  into  sight. 

This  thought  for  the  sheep  committed  to  his  cus- 
tody possessed  the  mind  of  the  Great  Shepherd  on 
the  night  in  which  He  was  betrayed,  when  He  went 
forth  to  meet  Judas  and  the  arresting  band.  Placing 
Himself  between  them  and  the  frightened  little 
group  that  cowered  behind  Him,  He  said,  'Tf  ye  seek 
Me,  let  these  go  their  way."  If  He  had  been  an 
hireling,  when  He  saw  the  wolf  coming,  He  would 
have  fled ;  but  because  He  was  God's  Shepherd,  He 
stood  between  his  own  and  peril,  as  He  always  will 
do  in  every  dark  hour  that  may  menace  us  between 
this  and  the  safety  of  the  gates  of  pearl. 

We  have  a  strong  claim  on  Jesus,  because  He  is 
God's  Shepherd,  the  representative  of  the  Divine 
care,  the  custodian  of  the  Divine  honor.  In  every 
prayer  for  help,  we  may  remind  Him  that  He  stands 
to  us  as  the  gift  and  sponsor  of  the  Divine  faithful- 
ness. He  must  be  to  us  all  that  God  Himself  would 
be. 

My  Fellow. — When  our  Lord  quoted  this  text 
in  the  upper  room,  as  He  rose  to  leave  it,  He  stopped 


124  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

before  He  reached  these  words.  But  the  omission 
was  not  due  to  any  hesitation  on  his  part  to  appro- 
priate them.  He  knew  that  He  was  Jehovah's  Fel- 
low, else  He  would  never  have  included  the  Father 
with  Himself  in  the  significant  pronoun,  We.  ''We 
will  come,  and  make  our  abode  with  Him."  He 
counted  not  equality  with  God  a  prize  to  be  grasped 
at.  And  it  was  the  fact  of  his  being  Jehovah's 
Fellow  that  made  his  death  of  such  infinite  worth. 
Man  could  not  have  redeemed  his  fellow;  but  the 
Infinite  Lawgiver  Himself,  taking  to  his  heart  the 
penalty  of  his  own  broken  law,  afforded  it  the  great- 
est possible  homage  and  satisfaction. 

Surely  there  is  a  designed  contrast  between  Fellow 
and  Hosts.  God  is  the  Lord  of  many  Hosts,  in 
heaven,  and  earth,  and  sea;  but  He  has  only  one 
Fellow.  All  the  Hosts  of  angels  and  nature  had  not 
availed  for  the  work  of  propitiation — this  He  must 
do  Himself;  and  He  did  it  in  the  person  of  Jesus. 

The  Man. — ''The  Man  that  is  my  Fellow."  By 
his  tears  and  anguish,  by  the  pains  of  death  and 
the  article  of  dissolution,  his  humanity  was  attested. 
And  how  real,  how  tender,  how  near  they  make  Him 
to  us  all.  No  man  so  abject  and  sinful  but  may 
approach  Him,  when  he  is  numbered  with  the  trans- 
gressors,and  hangs  in  death  between  two  malefac- 
tors. Would  you  touch  God  through  his  Fellow, 
then  touch  yonder  dying  Man.  The  gulf  is  bridged ; 
the  yawning  chasm  is  spanned.  By  the  grace  of  the 
one  Man  we  may  now  receive  the  abundance  of 
grace,  and  reign  in  life,  here  and  hereafter. 


THE  SHEPHERD  OF  ISRAEL.  125 

Beware  how  you  treat  this  blessed  Man.  Still 
men  sell  Him  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver;  tread  be- 
neath their  wanton  feet  his  precious  blood;  and  do 
despite  to  his  grace.  Still  they  prefer  their  paltry 
silverlings  to  his  matchless  worth.  Would  that  their 
blind  eyes  were  opened  to  see  the  matchless  glory  and 
beauty  of  Him  who  stands  at  their  door  to  knock. 

The  disciples  were  scattered  when  their  Shepherd 
was  taken.  He  had  foreseen  this :  ''Behold  the  hour 
cometh,  yea,  is  come,  that  ye  shall  be  scattered,  every 
one  to  his  own,  and  shall  leave  Me  alone."  And  it 
seemed  as  though  the  hand  of  God  was  against  them, 
to  their  utter  undoing  in  the  dread  hours  that  fol- 
lowed. But  who  shall  tell  the  woes  that  befell  the 
chosen  people  that  had  rejected  the  Messiah!  The 
disciples  wept  for  but  a  little  space,  and  their  sorrow 
was  soon  turned  into  joy.  But  the  Jews  succumbed 
beneath  the  woes,  which,  within  forty  years,  befell 
their  nation.  It  came  to  pass  in  all  the  land,  that 
two  parts  were  cut  off,  while  the  remainder  passed 
through  the  fire,  and  have  been  passing  through  it 
ever  since.  Nor  can  it  be  otherwise,  until  they 
acknowledge  Jesus  as  their  true  Shepherd,  and  allow 
Him  to  fold  them,  and  humble  themselves  to  be- 
come the  people  of  his  pasture,  and  the  sheep  of  his 
hand. 


XIII. 
XLbc  Spirit  of  ©race  anD  Supplication. 

(Zechariah  xii.,  xiii.) 

There  is  unusual  solemnity  in  these  opening 
words,  as  though  to  assure  us  that  there  can  be  no 
doubt  as  to  the  sufficiency  of  the  speaker  to  carry 
into  effect  all  that  He  is  about  to  unfold.  'Thus 
saith  the  Lord,  which  stretcheth  forth  the  heavens, 
and  layeth  the  foundation  of  the  earth,  and  formeth 
the  spirit  of  man  within  him." 

The  vision  itself  refers  to  a  time  yet  future,  though 
perhaps  not  far  away,  when  the  Jewish  people  shall 
have  returned  to  their  own  land,  but  still  in  unbe- 
lief. Indeed,  it  is  supposed  by  some  that  they  will 
be  in  actual  league  with  some  awful  impersonation 
of  Antichrist,  in  accordance  with  Daniel  ix.  27.  For 
some  reason,  for  the  present  veiled  in  mystery,  the 
anti-Semitic  hate  with  which  some  of  the  nations  of 
Europe  are  already  smitten  will  then  become  uni- 
versal, "and  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  be 
gathered  together  against  Jerusalem."  But  their 
confederacy  will  be  overwhelmed  with  infinite  dis- 
aster. Such  is  the  burden  of  this  threefold  affirma- 
tion :  ^ 

120 


SPIRIT  OF  GRACE  AND  SUPPLICATION,     127 

"Behold,  I  will  make  Jerusalem  a  cup  of  reeling 
unto  all  the  peoples  round  about"  (ver.  2). 

"I  will  make  Jerusalem  a  burdensome  stone  for 
all  the  peoples"  (ver.  3). 

"In  that  day  will  I  make  the  chieftains  of  Judah 
like  a  torch  of  fire  in  a  sheaf"  (ver.  6). 

Immediately  upon  this,  an  assurance  is  given  that 
in  that  awful  day,  more  fully  described  in  the  suc- 
ceeding chapter,  the  Lord  shall  save,  and  the  Lord 
shall  defend  (vs.  7,  8).  In  clouds  the  long-rejected 
Messiah,  accompanied  by  his  Bride — the  Church — 
will  appear  to  the  succor  of  his  brethren,  as  Joseph 
interposed  on  the  behalf  of  his;  and,  as  they  behold 
Him  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  power,  and  com- 
ing, as  He  told  Caiaphas  He  would,  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven,  they  will  appropriate  the  old  refrain,  pre- 
pared by  Isaiah  for  this  very  occasion;  when  He 
shall  swallow  up  death  in  victory,  and  take  away 
the  reproach  of  his  people  from  off  all  the  earth : 
"Lo,  this  is  our  God ;  we  have  waited  for  Him,  and 
He  will  save  us:  this  is  the  Lord;  we  have  waited 
for  Him,  we  v/ill  be  glad  and  rejoice  in  his  salva- 
tion" (Isa.  XXV.  9).  "Behold,  He  cometh  with  the 
clouds;  and  every  eye  shall  see  Him,  and  they 
which  pierced  Him;  and  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth 
shall  mourn  over  Him.  Even  so.  Amen."  Then 
the  Lord  Jesus  will  slay  the  lawless  one  with  the 
breath  of  his  mouth,  and  bring  Him  to  naught  by 
the  brightness  of  his  coming.  And  then  the  solemn 
and  awful  threatenings  of  this  passage  will  take 
effect :  "It  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  I  will 


128  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

seek  to  destroy  all  the  nations  that  come  against 
Jerusalem." 

Let  us  now  turn  from  this  side  of  the  picture  to 
consider  the  threefold  effect  that  this  interposition 
will  have  on  the  Jews  themselves : 

"In  that  day  shall  there  be  a  great  mourning" 
(ver.  ii). 

"In  that  day  there  shall  be  a  fountain  opened" 
(xiii.  i). 

"It  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  I  will  cut 
off  the  names  of  the  idols  out  of  the  land"  (ver.  2). 

I.  A  Great  Mourning. — Notice  the  certainty  of 
this  announcement.  "There  shall  be  a  great 
mourning  in  Jerusalem."  There  is  no  hesitation  in 
the  prophet's  speech.  He  is  as  sure  as  the  apostle 
Paul,  when  he  says :  "So  all  Israel  shall  be  saved." 
This  is  a  solemn  reflection  for  the  traveler,  as  he 
perambulates  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  or  visits  the 
piece  of  ancient  wall  by  which  the  Jews  wail  weekly. 
There  shall  be  a  great  mourning,  not  because  the 
Turk  has  desecrated  the  sacred  places,  nor  because 
the  ruins  of  bygone  days  affront  with  their  yawning 
gaps,  nor  yet  because  of  the  bitter  sufferings  of  the 
much-hated  race;  but  each  for  a  personal  rejection 
of  the  Messiah,  who  was  driven  through  those  streets 
and  crucified  without  the  gate. 

The  Comparison.  "As  the  mourning  of  Hadad- 
rimmon  in  the  Valley  of  Megiddon."  At  this  spot 
the  good  King  Josiah,  whose  reign  had  been  the 
only  gleam  of  brightness  in  the  period  between  the 


SPIRIT  OF  GRACE  AND  SUPPLICATION.     129 

reign  of  Hezekiah  and  the  downfall  of  the  State, 
was  done  to  death  by  the  Egyptian  arrows.  Jere- 
miah, the  prince  of  lamenters,  lamented  for  Josiah, 
and  all  the  singing  men  and  singing  women  spake 
of  him  in  their  lamentations.  There  never  had  been 
such  miiversal  and  heart-rending  sorrow  since  Israel 
became  a  nation,  as  that  which  arose  when  the  royal 
chariot  drove  throilgh  Jerusalem  bearing  his  dead 
body  for  burial;  but  such  grief  is  the  only  symbol 
adequate  to  express  that  coming  national  agony, 
when  Israel  shall  look  on  her  rejected  Lord  and 
mourn. 

Yet  another  metaphor  is  pressed  into  service.  The 
anguish  with  which  a  parent  mourns  for  his  only 
son,  the  bitterness  of  sorrow  for  a  first  born,  is  heart- 
rending in  any  land,  and  among  all  peoples;  but  it 
is  peculiarly  so  in  an  Eastern — a  Hebrew — home. 
Yet  the  bitter  mourning  which  is  one  day  to  fill  Jeru- 
salem will  be  like  that — as  it  was  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,  when  every  family  mourned  over  the  death 
of  its.  first  born. 

It  will  be  universal.  From  the  highest  to  the  low- 
est of  the  court — for  Nathan  here  stands  for  the 
youngest  of  David's  sons;  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest  of  the  priestly  order — for  Shimei  stands  for 
the  least  conspicuous  of  the  priestly  clans;  all  the 
people  that  remain  shall  be  bowed  in  one  common 
act  of  contrition.  It  is  much  to  see  one  prodigal 
stricken  with  remorse — what  will  it  be  when  a  whole 
nation  beats  on  its  breast,  and  bewails  its  sins! 
Every  wind  laden  with  dirges,  all  the  open  spaces 


130  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

black  with  prostrate  forms,  all  eyes  wet  with 
tears,  the  somber  shadow  of  the  funeral  pyre  flung 
over  all. 

It  will  be  lonely!  "Every  family  apart,  and  their 
wives  apart."  Excessive  grief  seeks  seclusion.  It 
brooks  no  distraction;  its  attention  is  too  absorbed 
with  the  object  of  its  agony  to  have  thought  for  any- 
thing beside.  It  did  not  seem  surprising  to  her 
friends  when  Martha  arose  from  a  house  full  of 
mourners  and  hastened  away.  They  whispered,  ''It's 
natural  enough :  she  wants  to  be  alone.  She  goeth 
to  the  grave  to  weep  there."  So  this  mourning  will 
isolate  people.  Each  will  feel  personally  concerned ; 
each  will  feel  as  though  chiefly  responsible;  each 
will  take  to  his  own  heart  the  crucifixion  of  the 
Messiah,  and  will  turn  the  Misere  into  a  wail  of 
personal  confession.  '7  have  sinned;  /  pierced  his 
hands  and  feet ;  /  am  of  all  men  most  miserable,  and 
of  all  sinners  the  chief." 

It  will  he  due  to  a  vision  of  the  mediatorial  suf- 
ferings of  Jesus.  ''They  shall  look  on  Him  whom 
they  pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn."  There  is  no 
doubt  as  to  the  application  of  these  words,  for  as 
the  beloved  apostle  stood  beside  the  cross,  on  which 
only  the  precious  casket  of  the  Jewel — the  body  of 
our  Lord — remained,  and  saw  the  soldier  pierce  his 
side,  as  the  blood  and  water  issued  forth,  he  was 
reminded  by  the  Holy  Ghost  that  this  Scripture  was 
being  fulfilled  (John  xix.  34-36). 

This  is  the  fact  which  the  Spirit  of  God  delights 
to  use  for  the  breaking  of  our  hard  hearts.     They 


SPIRIT  OF  GRACE  AND  SUPPLICATION.     131 

are  broken  on  the  broken  heart  of  Jesus.  They  are 
pierced  by  the  sight  of  His  piercing.  They  mourn 
when  they  look  on  Him  whom  they  pierced. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  sorrow — the  one  to  death, 
the  other  to  hfe.  The  first  considers  the  penalty 
of  our  wrong-doing ;  the  second  the  Person  against 
whom  the  wrong  has  been  done.  The  one  is  largely 
selfish,  dreading  only  the  scorpion  whip  and  the 
sting  of  flame — it  would  cease  in  a  moment  if  these 
were  withdrawn;  the  other  is  altogether  regardless 
of  consequences  that  may  accrue  to  itself,  and  bit- 
terly laments  that  shame  and  sorrow  have  been 
brought  to  the  heart  of  Jesus,  so  true,  so  tender,  so 
altogether  lovely. 

Sinners  seeking  forgiveness  often  appear  to  think 
that  they  must  bring  some  need  of  sorrow  as  a  con- 
dition of  acceptance  with  the  Saviour.  If  only  they 
can  feel  an  adequate  sorrow  for  sin,  they  may  surely 
bring  their  tears  as  a  price  for  his  mercy,  as  a  reason 
for  his  salvation.  But  we  can  never  feel  an  adequate 
sorrow  for  sin.  To  wait  for  this  will  be  to  wait  for- 
ever. To  postpone  coming  until  the  tear-bottles  are 
full,  will  be  to  postpone  forever.  Besides,  the  spir- 
itual philosophy  of  the  matter  is  that  we  shall  never 
get  the  right  sorrow  for  sin  till  we  see  Jesus,  and 
are  admitted  into  the  intimacy  of  his  love.  The  tears 
that  we  do  not  need  to  weep  over  come,  not  before, 
but  after  conversion.  It  was  after  the  poor  sinful 
outcast  had  been  forgiven  that  she  washed  the 
Saviour's  feet  with  tears.  It  was  when  Jesus  turned 
and  looked  upon  Peter  that  he  went  forth  to  weep 


132  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

biicerly.  We  must  come  to  Christ  as  we  are,  not 
trying  to  realize  what  sin  is,  not  seeking  to  be 
smitten  with  adequate  grief,  but  just  accepting  his 
finished  work  and  trusting  Himself :  after  this  will 
come  the  forth-pouring  of  our  grief.  The  eyes  that 
first  look  to  Him  for  salvation  may  be  tearless,  but 
they  will  not  long  remain  so.  The  first  act  may  be 
largely  one  of  will ;  but  the  last  will  be  of  the  emo- 
tions. When  we  have  looked  on  Him  whom  our 
sins  pierced,  we  shall  mourn  as  one  mourneth  for 
his  only  son,  and  be  in  bitterness  as  one  in  bitterness 
for  the  first  born. 

Let  us  distinguish,  then,  between  Repentance  and 
Penitence.  The  one  is  the  child  of  the  will;  the 
other  of  the  heart.  We  repent  when  we  turn  from 
sin  to  Christ ;  we  are  penitent  when  we  meet  his  eyes 
as  Peter  did,  and  go  out  to  weep  bitterly.  To  repent 
is  the  definite  act  of  the  moment ;  but  penitence  will 
accompany  us  to  the  very  gates  of  heaven,  only  to 
flee  away  before  the  light  of  eternal  blessedness. 

The  Agent  in  producing  this  mourning  is  the 
Holy  Spirit.  'T  will  pour  *  *  *  the  Spirit  of  grace 
and  supplication."  Conviction  of  sin  is  the  special 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  uses  the  truth  as  his 
sword,  piercing  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and 
spirit,  of  the  joints  and  marrow.  He  particularly 
takes  the  truth  of  the  sufferings  and  death  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  presents  that  to  the  conscience, 
pressing  home  the  evil  of  rejecting  such  a  Saviour, 
such  pity,  such  holy,  yearning  love,  until  the  soul 
understands  what  sin  has  cost  the  Lord,  and  melts, 


SPIRIT  OF  GRACE  AND  SUPPLICATION.     133 

as  icebergs  do,  when  they  float  down  into  Southern 
seas. 

11.  A  Fountain  Opened. — On  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost Peter  pointed  to  those  cleansing  streams.  "And 
Peter  said  unto  them;  Repent  ye,  and  be  baptized 
every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  unto 
the  remission  of  your  sins;  and  ye  shall  receive  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  With  marvelous  force  and 
eloquence  John  Bunyan  brought  the  force  of  those 
words,  "every  one  of  you/'  *'But  I  struck  Him  on 
his  head  with  the  rod:  is  there  any  hope  for  me?" 
Every  one  of  you,  saith  the  apostle.  "But  I  spat  in 
his  face :  is  there  forgiveness  for  me  ?"  Yes,  is  the 
reply,  for  every  one  of  you.  "But  I  drove  the  spikes 
into  his  hands  and  feet,  which  transfixed  Him  to  the 
cross :  is  there  cleansing  for  me?"  Yes,  cries  Peter, 
for  every  one  of  you.  "But  I  pierced  his  side,  though 
He  had  never  done  me  wrong;  it  was  a  ruthless, 
cruel  act,  and  I  am  sorry  for  it  now^:  may  that  sin 
be  washed  away  ?"  Every  one  of  you,  is  the  constant 
answer.  Repent,  and  turn  again,  that  your  sins  may 
be  blotted  out.  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  God's 
Son,  cleanseth  from  all  sin.  If  the  blood  of  bulls 
and  goats,  and  the  ashes  of  an  heifer  sprinkling  the 
unclean,  sanctify  unto  the  cleanness  of  the  flesh,  how 
much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  who,  through 
the  Eternal  Spirit,  offered  Himself  without  blemish 
to  God,  cleanse  your  consciences! 

And  as  it  was  at  the  beginning  of  this  era,  so  it 
shall  be  at  its  close — with  this  difference,  that 
whereas  then  some  few  thousand  souls  only  stepped 


134  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

into  the  fountain,  at  last  a  whole  nation,  the  house 
of  David  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  shall 
wash  there  and  be  cleansed.  Then  the  words  of 
the  apostle  Peter,  spoken  centuries  ago  in  Solomon's 
porch,  will  be  fulfilled,  when  Israel  repents  and  turns 
again;  her  sins  will  be  blotted  out,  and  there  will 
come  times  of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  restoration  of  all  things,  ''whereof 
God  spake  by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets  which 
have  been  since  the  world  began"  (Acts  iii.  21). 

III.  The  Destruction  of  Idolatry.  —  The 
names  of  the  idols  will  be  cut  off  out  of  the  land, 
and  the  prophets  and  unclean  spirits  will  be  caused 
to  pass  out  of  it.  It  is  not  enough  for  God  to  for- 
give. He  must  deal  with  the  sources  of  all  the  way- 
wardness and  backsliding  of  his  people.  There  will 
be,  therefore,  a  strong  and  radical  dealing  with  idols, 
prophets,  and  demons. 

The  thoroughness  of  these  drastic  measures  is 
brought  out  in  an  imaginary  vignette  of  a  household 
scene  in  those  happy  days.  It  is  supposed  that  the 
son  of  Godly  parents,  who  have  lately  mourned  for 
their  sins  apart,  and  been  delivered  from  them,  sud- 
denly feels  himself  called  upon  to  assume  the  role 
of  a  prophet.  He  encourages  people  to  come  to  him 
to  detect  the  culprit  in  some  theft  or  murder,  or  to 
cause  the  rain  to  fall  on  the  parched  ground,  or  to 
perform  magical  rites  over  the  sick,  or  call  up  the 
dead — to  do,  in  fact,  what  Balaam  wanted  Balak 
to  do,  when  he  sent  for  him  across  the  desert.  The 
tidings  come  to  his  parents,  who  are  so  devoted  in 


SPIRIT  OF  GRACE  AND  SUPPLICATION,     135 

their  adherence  to  God  that  they  would  rather  lose 
their  child  than  allow  him  to  pursue  his  evil,  God- 
dishonoring  work  in  their  home.  "It  shall  come 
to  pass  that,  when  any  shall  yet  prophecy,  then  his 
father  and  his  mother  that  begat  him  shall  say  unto 
him.  Thou  shalt  not  live;  for  thou  speakest  lies  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord :  and  his  father  and  his  mother 
that  begat  him  shall  thrust  him  through  when  he 
prophesieth."  It  would  not  be  possible  to  discover 
a  stronger  way  of  affirming  the  absolute  transforma- 
tion that  will  finally  come  over  the  Jewish  people 
when  their  devotion  to  God  shall  overpower  their 
natural  love  to  their  children. 

The  passion  against  idolatry  and  false  prophets 
would  become  so  intense  that  the  practicers  of  arts 
which  had  imposed  on  the  credulity  of  the  people 
would  be  ashamed  and  afraid  to  own  their  profes- 
sion. "The  prophets  shall  be  ashamed,  every  one  of 
his  vision,  when  he  prophesieth,  neither  shall  they 
wear  a  hairy  garment" — this  being  the  special  dress 
of  the  sons  of  the  prophets,  by  which  they  were  at 
once  recognized. 

If  a  township  of  people  should  rise  against  a  man 
suspected  of  being  a  prophet,  he  would  vehemently 
protest  that  they  were  mistaken,  and  that  he  was  no 
prophet.  Trembling  for  his  life,  because  so  certain 
of  the  temper  of  his  accusers,  he  would  make  any 
subterfuge  to  escape  suspicion.  *T  am  a  tiller  of 
the  ground,  for  I  have  been  made  a  bondman  from 
my  youth." 

If,  finally,  in  the  pursuance  of  their  hot  inquiry, 


136  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

they  discovered  marks  on  his  body,  which  indicated 
that  he  had  been  previously  convicted  and  branded 
for  following  the  calling  of  a  prophet,  he  would 
rather  assign  them  to  the  hands  of  his  friends  than 
dare  to  admit  that  he  had  ever  been  suspected  of 
claiming  to  be  a  prophet.  "One  shall  say  unto  him. 
What  are  these  wounds  between  thine  arms  ?  Then 
he  shall  answer,  Those  with  which  I  was  wounded 
in  the  house  of  my  friends." 

This  inquiry  and  reply  have  often  been  associated 
with  the  marks  of  the  nails  in  the  hands  of  Christ. 
But  this  is  not  the  natural  reading  of  the  passage, 
which  can  only  be  attributed  in  the  sense  above 
given ;  the  evident  drift  of  the  passage  being  to  show 
that  there  will  be  such  a  revelation  of  the  evil 
wrought  by  the  prophets,  and  so  strong  an  antago- 
nism against  them,  that  those  suspected  of  being 
such  will  be  prepared  to  evade  the  charge  at  any 
cost,  -  knowing  that  if  it  is  established  against  them 
they  may  expect  but  short  shrift.  This  will  be  a 
deliverance,  indeed,  which  shall  be  radical  and  final. 
But  if  God  is  prepared  to  do  so  great  and  perfect  a 
work  for  his  ancient  people,  let  us  give  Him  no  rest 
until  He  has  utterly  abolished  our  idols  also  and 
purified  us  unto  Himself — people  for  his  possession, 
zealous  of  good  works. 


XIV. 
**Zhime  Sbortl^  to  Come  to  ipass/* 

(Zechariah  xiv.) 

It  is  impossible  to  regard  this  mysterious  and 
sublime  prophecy  as  having  been  already  fulfilled. 
'Iliere  is  nothing  in  the  story  of  the  Maccabees,  nor 
in  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  beneath  the  arms  of  Titus, 
which  at  all  adequately  fulfills  the  conditions  of  the 
prophet's  words.  When  have  all  nations  been  gath- 
ered together  against  Jerusalem  in  battle?  When 
has  the  Mount  of  Olives  rent  in  twain  for  the  flight 
of  the  besieged?  What  day  that  has  ever  broken 
from  the  East  has  fulfilled  the  description  of  verses 
6  and  7?  At  what  time  of  their  chequered  history 
have  the  Jews  gathered  the  spoils  of  their  enemies 
in  battle;  gold  and  silver,  and  apparel,  in  great 
abundance?  Of  course,  it  is  possible  to  put  meta- 
phorical and  spiritualizing  interpretations  on  all 
these  touches.  But  to  do  so  is  to  jeopardize  the 
whole  force  and  value  of  prophetic  Scripture.  If 
the  predictions  of  the  Advent  of  our  Lord  in  the 
days  of  his  humiliation  were  so  literally  fulfilled, 
why  should  we  suppose  that  the  predictions  of  his 
Second  Advent  in  great  glory  must  be  treated  as 

137 


138  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

metaphor  and  trope  ?  Surely  we  are  justified  by  the 
minute  accuracy  of  the  former  fulfillment  to  expect 
as  exact  a  fulfillment  of  prophecies  which  are  still 
awaiting  accomplishment.  When  it  is  built,  the 
new  Jerusalem  shall  comply  with  every  line  of  the 
Architect's  plan,  as  communicated  to  the  prophet. 

Following,  then,  the  successive  features  of  the 
prophet's  delineation,  we  learn  that  a  time  is  coming 
when  the  nations  of  the  world — which,  to  adopt  a 
modern  phrase,  may  indicate  the  concert  of  Euro- 
pean powers — will  be  gathered  against  Jerusalem 
in  battle,  that  city  being  held  by  the  Jews,  as  yet 
in  unbelief.  And  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  Zecha- 
riah  is  here  anticipating  the  same  events  as  are 
described  by  Ezekiel,  when  the  great  nations  of  the 
north  come  against  ''the  land  that  is  brought  back 
from  the  sword,  and  gathered  out  of  many  peoples, 
upon  the  mountains  of  Israel,  to  take  the  spoil  and 
to  take  the  prey"  (Ezekiel  xxxviii.,  xxxix.). 

At  first  this  invasion  shall  be  completely  success- 
ful. "The  city  shall  be  taken,  and  the  houses  rifled, 
and  the  women  ravished" :  hell  let  loose,  and  no  re- 
straint exerted  on  the  excesses  of  the  infuriated 
soldiery.  Then  will  the  Lord  appear  to  his  people, 
as  He  did  to  the  typical  Jew  on  the  road  to  Damas- 
cus. 'Then  shall  the  Lord  go  forth,  and  fight 
against  those  nations,  as  when  He  fought  in  the 
day  of  battle."  "Behold,"  says  John,  referring  to 
the  same  event,  "He  cometh  with  clouds,  and  every 
eye  shall  see  Him,  and  they  which  pierced  Him,  and 
all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  shall  mourn  over  Him." 


THINGS  SHORTLY  TO  COME  TO  PASS.       139 

"In  that  day,"  to  quote  Ezekiel's  vivid  and  striking 
imagery,  ''said  the  Lord,  when  Gog  shall  come 
against  the  land  of  Israel,  my  fury  shall  come  up 
into  my  nostrils.  And  I  will  plead  against  him 
with  pestilence  and  with  blood ;  and  I  will  rain  upon 
him,  and  upon  his  hordes,  and  upon  the  many  peo- 
ples that  are  with  him,  an  overflowing  shower,  and 
great  hail-stones,  fire,  and  brimstone.  And  I  will 
magnify  Myself,  and  sanctify  Myself,  and  I  will 
make  Myself  known  in  the  eyes  of  many  nations." 

It  is  impossible  to  doubt  that,  at  that  time,  there 
will  be  a  literal  appearance  of  the  rejected  Saviour. 
Where  his  feet  often  stood  in  the  days  of  his  flesh, 
they  shall  stand  again.  "His  feet  shall  stand  in  that 
day  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives,  which  is  before  Je- 
rusalem on  the  East.  The  Lord  my  God  shall  come, 
and  all  the  holy  ones  with  Thee."  In  other  words, 
there  shall  be  a  glorious  and  literal  fulfillment  of  the 
reassuring  words  of  the  two  men,  who,  clad  in 
white  and  glistening  raiment,  stood  beside  the  apos- 
tles on  Olivet. 

"Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  looking  into 
heaven?  This  Jesus,  which  was  received  up  from 
you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye 
beheld  Him  going  into  heaven"  (Acts  i.  11).  "And 
it  shall  be  said  in  that  day,  Lo,  this  is  our  God ;  we 
have  waited  for  Him,  and  He  will  save  us:  this  is 
the  Lord ;  we  have  waited  for  Him,  we  will  be  glad 
and  rejoice  in  his  salvation.  For  in  this  mountain 
shall  the  hand  of  the  Lord  rest,  and  Moab  shall  be 
trodden  down  in  his  place,  even  as  straw  is  trodden 


I40  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

down  in  the  water  of  the  dunghill" — (Isa.  xxv.  9, 

10). 

It  was  when  his  brethren  were  in  their  greatest 
straits  that  Joseph  made  himself  known  unto  them ; 
and  when  the  Jews  are  in  their  dire  extremity,  they 
will  cry  aloud  for  help  and  deliverance  from  Him 
whom  they  rejected.  That  memorable  scene  in  the 
ancient  land  of  the  pyramids  will  be  reproduced  in 
all  its  pathos,  when  the  long-rejected  Brother  shall 
say  to  his  own  brethren  after  the  flesh,  'T  am  Jesus, 
your  Brother,  whom  ye  sold  unto  Pilate:  and  now 
be  not  grieved,  nor  angry  with  yourselves,  that  ye 
delivered  Me  up  to  be  crucified;  for  God  did  send 
Me  before  you  to  preserve  a  remnant  in  the  earth 
and  to  save  you  alive  by  a  great  deliverance"  (see 
Gen.  xlv.  1-15). 

When  this  final  reconciliation  shall  have  taken 
place;  when  the  mutual  blessings  and  embracings 
have  effaced  the  memory  of  the  bitter  past;  when 
the  chosen  people  shall  have  recognized  their  great 
Deliverer — He  will  set  Himself  to  deliver  them.  It 
Uiay  be  that  they  will  recognize  Him  in  the  act  of 
their  deliverance.  The  cleaving  mountain  shall 
make  a  way  of  escape,  as  of  old  time  the  cleaving 
sea.  On  that  memorable  day — ''one  day,  which  is 
known  unto  the  Lord,  not  day,  and  not  night" ; 
when  the  cold  and  frost  (ver.  6,  r.  v.^  marg.)  shall 
mingle  with  the  throes  of  earthquake  (ver.  5)  ; 
when  the  sun  shall  be  turned  into  darkness  and  the 
moon  into  blood;  when  atmospheric  and  cosmical 
convulsions,  accompanying  the  crisis,  give  evidence 


THINGS  SHORTLY  TO  COME  TO  PASS.       14I 

of  its  momentous  character,  as  the  pangs  of  the 
travail-hour  in  which  the  new  age  is  being  born — 
God  will  destroy  the  face  of  the  covering  that  is 
cast  over  all  peoples,  and  the  veil  that  is  spread 
over  all  nations.  He  will  swallow  up  death  in  vic- 
tory, and  the  Lord  God  will  wipe  away  tears  from 
off  all  faces ;  and  the  reproach  of  his  people  shall  He 
take  away  from  off  all  the  earth ;  for  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  it.  How  touching  and  significant  are  the 
prophet's  words :  ''It  shall  come  to  pass,  that  at 
evening  time  it  shall  be  light."  The  day  of  Israel's 
history  has  been  long  and  stormy.  For  the  most 
part,  heavy  storm-clouds  have  brooded  over  her  na- 
tional life,  emitting  from  age  to  age  thunder  and 
deluges  of  rain ;  but  already  there  is  a  rim  of  light 
on  the  horizon,  and  this  is  destined  to  grow  until  it 
dispossesses  the  brooding  darkness.  The  sun  shall 
yet  break  out  and  bathe  the  whole  landscape  with 
warm  and  glowing  radiance.  ''At  evening  time 
it  shall  be  light." 

Whether  we  shall  live  to  see  that  evening  we  can- 
not tell.  But  during  these  latter  years  many  signs 
have  been  giving  evidence  that  we  are  approaching 
one  of  those  epoch-making  moments  in  the  history 
of  our  race  which  may  be  called  the  hinges  of  the 
ages.  The  despair  which  is  settling  down  on  some 
of  the  noblest  spirits;  the  excessive  devotion  to 
pleasure  which  engrosses  the  light  and  vain;  the 
descent  of  empire  from  the  gold  of  imperial  autoc- 
racy to  the  iron  and  clay  of  the  rule  of  the  peoples ; 
the  lawless  disregard  of  family  ties  and  sacred  in- 


142  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

stitutions;  the  bitter  hatred  of  the  Jewish  people, 
known  as  anti-Semitism,  which,  Hke  a  contagious 
fever,  has  befallen  most  of  the  European  nations; 
the  interesting  movements  among  the  Jews  them- 
selves, that  known  as  Zionism,  that  identified  with 
the  name  of  Rabinovitch  in  South  Russia,  and  those 
which  are  attempting  the  decolonization  of  the  land 
of  their  fathers — all  these  announce  the  near  ap- 
proach of  the  fulfillment  of  these  words.  It  seems, 
as  we  study  contemporary  history,  that,  in  all  like- 
lihood, we  are  watching  the  first  stages  of  scenes 
destined  to  culminate  in  the  public  reconciliation  of 
the  Jews  with  their  Messiah. 

The  calculations  of  the  most  careful  students  of 
prophecy  also  indicate  that  we  are  approaching  the 
time  at  which  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  run  out, 
and  at  which  the  chosen  people  must  be  restored  to 
their  national  prerogative  and  reinstated  as  God's 
representatives  before  the  world.  ''Now  from  the 
fig-tree  learn  her  parable.  When  her  branch  is  now 
become  tender,  and  putteth  forth  its  leaves,  ye  know 
that  the  summer  is  nigh;  even  so  ye  also,  when  ye 
see  all  these  things,  know  ye  that  He  is  nigh,  even 
at  the  doors.  *  *  *  Watch  therefore :  for  ye  know 
not  what  hour  your  Lord  doth  come." 

Apparently  the  land  of  the  Jews  is  destined  to 
pass  through  considerable  changes,  dating  from  the 
time  of  the  Lord's  interposition  on  their  behalf.  The 
issue  of  living  waters  east  and  west;  the  depression 
of  the  surrounding  country  to  the  level  of  the  Ara- 
bah,  from  Gibeah  of  Saul  on  the  north  to  Rimmon 


THINGS  SHORTLY  TO  COME  TO  PASS.       143 

on  the  south ;  the  elevation  of  Jerusalem,  as  though 
to  a  level  plateau;  and  the  removal  of  the  curse — 
are,  of  course,  capable  of  metaphorical  and  figura- 
tive treatment:  but  there  is  no  precise  reason  for 
doubting  that  the  volcanic  action,  which  is  so  clearly- 
referred  to  in  the  fifth  verse,  will  produce  great 
modifications  of  the  present  landscape. 

That  the  Jews  shall  be  entirely  victorious  in  that 
last  great  struggle  is  abundantly  enforced.  We  learn 
from  Ezekiel's  visions  of  the  same  event  that  they 
that  dwell  in  the  cities  of  Israel  shall  go  forth  to 
make  fires  of  the  weapons  of  their  foes,  to  burn 
them,  so  that  they  shall  have  no  need  to  gather  the 
wood  of  the  forest  for  fuel ;  and  that  men  will  have 
to  be  set  apart  for  the  work  of  burying  the  multi- 
tudes of  the  dead.  Here,  too,  v/e  are  told  that  when 
Judah  fights  at  Jerusalem  (not  against,  see  r.  v., 
marg. ) ,  the  Lord  shall  smite  the  opposing  hosts  with 
a  great  plague,  before  which  they  shall  be  con- 
sumed; and  that  there  shall  be  vast  spoils  of  gold 
and  silver,  and  apparel  in  great  abundance. 

This,  surely,  is  the  scene  which  the  beloved  apostle 
depicts  in  marvelous  phraseology,  thrilling  with  the 
splendor  of  his  rich  and  glowing  eloquence : 

"I  saw  the  heaven  opened;  and  behold,  a  white  horse,  and 
He  that  sat  thereon,  called  Faithful  and  True;  and  in  right- 
eousness He  doth  judge  and  make  war.  And  his  eyes  are  a 
flame  of  fire,  and  upon  his  head  are  many  diadems ;  and  He 
hath  a  name  written,  which  no  one  knoweth  but  He  Himself. 
And  He  is  arrayed  in  a  garment  sprinkled  with  blood;  and 
his  name  is  called  The  Word  of  God.  And  the  armies  which 
are  in  heaven  followed  him  upon  white  horses,   clothed  in 


144  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

fine  linen,  white  and  pure.  And  out  of  his  mouth  proceedeth 
a  sharp  sword,  that  with  it  He  should  smite  the  nations ; 
and  He  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron;  and  He  treadeth 
the  winepress  of  the  fierceness  of  the  wrath  of  Almighty  God. 
And  He  hath  on  his  garment  and  on  his  thigh  a  name  written 
— King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords. 

"And  I  saw  an  angel  standing  in  the  sun ;  and  he  cried  with 
a  loud  voice,  saying  to  all  the  birds  that  fly  in  mid-heaven, 
Come  and  be  gathered  together  unto  the  great  supper  of 
God ;  that  ye  may  eat  the  flesh  of  kings,  and  the  flesh  of 
captains,  and  the  flesh  of  mighty  men,  and  the  flesh  of  horses 
and  of  them  that  sit  thereon,  and  the  flesh  of  all  men,  both 
free  and  bond,  and  small  and  great"    (Rev.  xix.    11-18). 

So  all  Israel  shall  be  saved.  The  envy  also  of 
Ephraim  shall  depart;  Ephraim  shall  not  envy 
Judah,  and  Judah  shall  not  vex  Ephraim.  The 
mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established 
in  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  all  nations  shall 
flow  unto  it.  The  holy  city  shall  arise  and  shine, 
because  her  light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
is  risen  upon  her;  and  all  the  glowing  words  of 
Isaiah's  sixtieth  chapter  shall  be  gloriously  fulfilled. 

Behold  the  Lord,  by  many  a  prophet,  and  espe- 
cially by  his  servant  Zechariah,  has  proclaimed  to 
the  end  of  the  earth:  ''Say  ye  to  the  daughter  of 
Zion,  Behold,  thy  salvation  cometh!" 


XV. 
^be  Millennial  Bge,  anD  ^bis. 

(Zechariah  xiv.,  i6.) 

The  Feast  of  Tabernacles  was  one  of  the  bright- 
est and  gladdest  of  all  the  Hebrew  Festivals.  It 
commemorated  the  wanderings  of  the  children  of 
Israel  in  the  wilderness,  when  they  dwelt  in  booths. 
"Ye  shall  dwell  in  booths  seven  days,"  ran  the 
ancient  words  of  prescription;  ''all  that  are  home- 
born  in  Israel  shall  dwell  in  booths,  that  your  gen- 
erations may  know  that  I  made  the  children  of  Israel 
to  dwell  in  booths,  when  I  brought  them  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt"  (Lev.  xxiii.  39,  etc). 

The  time  fixed  for  its  celebration  was  after  the 
harvest  was  gathered  in.  "On  the  fifteenth  day  of 
the  seventh  month,  when  ye  have  gathered  in  the 
fruits  of  the  land,  ye  shall  keep  the  feast  of  the  Lord 
seven  days;  on  the  first  day  shall  be  a  solemn  rest, 
and  on  the  eighth  day  shall  be  a  solemn  rest."  But 
the  rest  of  that  first  day  was  consistent  with  the 
gathering  of  branches  of  palm  trees,  boughs  of  thick 
trees,  and  willows  of  the  brook.  What  a  joyful 
conjunction!  The  labors  of  the  year  were  over, 
the  corn  was  in  the  barns,  the  wine  and  oil  were 
safely  stored,  the  fields  were  resting  in  the  mellow 

145 


146  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

sunshine,  recuperating  after  their  toils.  From  all 
parts  of  the  land  the  people  gathered  to  the  city  of 
their  fathers,  whose  grim  and  ancient  palaces  and 
fortresses  were  festooned  with  greenery,  the  roofs 
covered  with  bowers,  and  all  the  open  spaces  packed 
close  with  leafy  tabernacles.  The  people  made 
themselves  booths,  every  one  upon  the  roof  of  his 
house,  and  in  their  courts,  and  in  the  courts  of  the 
house  of  God,  and  in  the  broad  place  of  the  water- 
gate,  and  in  the  broad  place  of  the  gate  of  Eph- 
raim"    (Neh.   viii.    16). 

To  the  quickened  eye  of  the  prophet,  scenes  were 
to  take  place  again,  similar  to  those  recorded  in 
the  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  (Ezra  iii.  4;  Neh. 
viii.  16)  ;  only  in  the  glad  days  he  anticipated  there 
would  gather  not  Jews  alone,  acknowledging  the 
Divine  King,  but  representatives  of  the  nations  of 
the  world,  gathered  out  of  every  land,  and  speaking 
in  every  tongue.  "It  shall  come  to  pass,  that  every 
one  that  is  left  of  all  the  nations  which  came  against 
Jerusalem,  shall  go  up  from  year  to  year  to  wor- 
ship the  King,  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  and  to  keep  the- 
feast  of  Tabernacles."  It  is  not  requisite  to  believe 
that  the  literal  feasts  of  the  old  covenant  shall  be 
restored;  but  that  the  gladness,  the  restfulness,  the 
festal  array,  which  pervaded  the  city  at  that  time 
of  the  year,  in  the  olden  days,  shall  characterize  the 
religious  life  of  the  w^orld,  the  focus  of  which  will 
be  "the  beloved  city." 

The  fair  vision  that  closes  the  vista  of  the  glade 
of  time  to  the  Hebrew  prophets,  was  always  the 


MILLENNIAL  AGE,  AND  THIS.  147 

rehabilitation  of  Jerusalem  as  the  religious  metropo- 
lis of  the  world.  It  was  so  once,  when  the  Queen 
of  Sheba  led  the  devout  inquirers  of  many  lands  to 
hear  the  wisdom  of  Solomon.  It  was  so  when  at 
the  day  of  Pentecost  its  streets  were  filled  with  the 
Babel  of  languages  from  all  the  world,  and  men  of 
different  garb,  complexion,  and  religion,  poured 
through  the  tortuous  streets.  Spiritually,  it  has 
been  so  since,  for  more  eyes  have  turned  to  Jerusalem 
than  to  Rome;  and  as  the  religion  of  Jesus  has 
spread,  the  whole  trend  of  religious  thought  has  been 
toward  the  city  where  Christianity  was  born  and 
cradled,  and  which  is  the  type  of  the  Jerusalem 
which  is  above,  and  is  the  mother  of  us  all.  But 
such  conceptions  will  not  satisfy  the  rich  predictions 
of  holy  men,  who  spake  as  they  were  borne  alon§ 
by  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  multitude  of  camels  shall 
bring  the  pilgrims  of  the  East,  as  the  ships  of  Tarsh- 
ish  the  children  of  the  West.  Through  the  wide- 
open  gates  the  streams  of  worshipers  shall  pour 
into  the  city,  bringing  the  wealth  of  the  nations. 
Instead  of  being  forsaken  and  hated,  so  that  no  man 
passed  through,  she  shall  become  an  eternal  excel- 
lency, the  joy  of  many  generations. 

Even  in  those  halcyon  days  when  righteousness 
shall  begin  to  cover  the  earth — as  waters  the  sea — 
when  tidal  waves  of  salvation  shall  sweep  over  the 
nations,  some  will  be  recalcitrant.  The  true  con- 
ception of  the  Millennium  does  not  imply  that  every 
single  soul  will  be  regenerate;  but  that  the  prepon- 
derating influences  of  the  world  shall  be  in  favor  of 


148  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

whatsoever  things  are  just,  pure,  lovely,  and  of  good 
report.  As  now  the  heavenlies  are  filled  with  the 
evil  spirits,  who  rule  the  darkness  of  this  world,  so 
then  they  shall  be  filled  with  Christ  and  his  saints, 
who  shall  rule  the  cities  and  continents  in  the  direc- 
tion of  righteousness,  temperance,  and  peace.  But 
even  under  these  favorable  circumstances,  the  evil 
of  the  human  heart  will  break  out  into  obstinate 
rebellion,  and  some  will  refuse  to  submit  to  Israel's 
God.  "And  it  shall  be,  that  whoso  of  all  the  families 
of  the  earth  goeth  not  up  to  Jerusalem  to  worship 
the  King,  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  upon  them  there  shall 
be  no  rain.  And  if  the  family  of  Egypt  go  not  up, 
and  come  not,     *     *     *     there  shall  be  the  plague." 

This  adaptation  of  punishment  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  lands  which  are  the  objects  of  Divine 
chastisement  is  very  significant.  Clearly  it  would 
be  no  punishment  to  the  land  of  Egypt  for  rain  to 
be  withheld,  as  her  prolific  harvests  depend  on  her 
mighty  river.  But  she  shall  not  therefore  escape 
judgment;  but  for  her  there  shall  be  the  stroke  of 
the  plague.  God  leaves  no  sin  unchastised ;  but  He 
knows  how  to  lay  his  hand  on  the  spot  where  we 
are  most  vulnerable.  There  He  touches  us,  and 
thus  we  are  brought  most  swiftly  to  repentance. 
We  cry,  "Ah,  if  it  had  been  anything  but  that,  I 
could  have  borne  it;  but  that  was  my  Benjamin,  my 
Rachel,  the  apple  of  my  eye,  the  one  sensitive  spot 
where  I  am  capable  of  the  intensest  suffering." 

At  this  juncture  a  shaft  of  light  breaks  over  the 
coming  age,  which  stands  revealed  in  all  its  beauties 


MILLENNIAL  AGE,  AND  THIS.  149 

of  holiness.  We  all  know  that  the  High  Priest 
wore  on  his  forehead  a  golden  plate,  on  which  the 
sacred  words,  Holiness  to  the  Lord,  were  en- 
graved. It  was  always  on  his  miter,  held  there  by 
its  lace  of  blue,  that  the  people  of  Israel  might  be 
accepted  before  the  Lord  (Exod.  xxviii.  36-38). 
But  here  the  prophet  sees  that  same  inscription  on 
the  bells  of  the  horses,  and  the  common  vessels  of 
household  use.  "In  that  day  shall  there  be  upon 
the  bells  of  the  horses.  Holiness  unto  the  Lord; 
and  the  pots  in  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  like  the 
bowls  before  the  altar.  Yea,  every  pot  in  Jerusalem 
and  Judah  shall  be  Holiness  unto  the  Lord  of 
Hosts." 

Holiness  stands  for  three  things :  Separation  from 
sin  and  unbecomingness ;  devotion  to  the  service  of 
God;  and  that  growing  likeness  to  Him  which  is 
the  necessary  consequence  of  receiving  Him  as  an 
Almighty  Tenant  of  the  heart.  For  holiness  can 
never  be  an  inherent  and  personal  attribute ;  it  must 
always  be  ours  in  proportion  as  we  are  God-pos- 
sessed and  God-filled.  They  are  holiest  who  have 
most  of  God.  It  is  a  remarkably  vivid  portrayal  of 
the  distinction  between  Judaism  and  Christianity, 
that  the  word,  which  of  all  others  characterized  the 
exclusiveness  and  limitations  of  the  old  law,  should 
be  here  appropriated  to  the  most  ordinary  and  com- 
monplace of  domesticities. 

We  have  here,  first,  the  abolition  of  the  distinc- 
tion between  sacred  and  secular.  Some  people 
resemble  ships,  which  are  built  in  water-tight  com- 


150  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

partments;  all  their  religion  is  kept  carefully  apart 
from  the  ordinary  interests  and  pursuits  of  their 
existence.  For  instance,  they  go  religiously  to  their 
place  of  worship  on  Sunday,  but  would  be  almost 
horrified  if  you  were  to  mention  the  name  of  God 
in  their  drawing-room,  or  at  the  dining-table.  They 
might  even  look  at  their  guest  reprovingly,  as  much 
as  to  say.  There  is  a  place  and  a  time  for  everything, 
but  not  here  or  now.  With  such,  Holiness  to  the 
Lord  is  well  enough  for  the  high  priest  and  for  the 
sanctuary;  but  it  has  no  place  on  the  bells  of  the 
horses,  or  the  vessels  of  household  use.  Certainly 
the  hostler  in  the  stable,  or  the  domestic  servant 
about  her  duties,  would  have  no  right  to  use  so 
reverend  a  designation. 

But  surely  this  rigid  separation  between  duties 
as  sacred  and  duties  as  secular,  between  clean  and 
unclean,  between  holy  and  common,  cannot  be  justi- 
fied in  the  face  of  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, which  bid  us  do  all,  even  eating  and  drinking, 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  for  the  glory  of 
God  (i  Cor.  X.  31;  Col.  iii.  17). 

Besides,  consider  the  genius  and  inner  heart  of 
Christianity,  (i)  /^  brings  us  into  the  possession 
of  a  new  life.  We  are  Christians,  not  because  we 
avow  a  certain  creed,  or  conform  to  certain  outward 
exercises ;  but  because  we  have  received  the  life,  the 
Eternal  Life,  which  was  with  the  Father,  and  was 
manifested  unto  us  in  Jesus.  And  is  it  possible  to 
restrict  the  manifestations  of  life?  Can  a  flower 
weave  its  petals  and  exhale  its  fragrance  to  order? 


MILLENNIAL  AGE,  AND  THIS,  15 1 

Can  the  young  things  of  the  woodlands  and  meadows 
be  thus  today  and  something  else  tomorrow  ?  Can 
a  child  observe  days  and  times  in  its  laughter,  its 
tears,  its  appetite?  Is  not  God's  life  always  the 
same  in  its  abundant  and  infinite  variety  ?  So  surely 
the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  should,  and  must,  express 
itself  in  all  the  outgoings  of  our  existence — in 
speech,  act,  movement — equally  on  the  six  days  as 
the  one  day ;  as  much  in  the  kitchen,  or  the  shop,  as 
the  church.  If  you  are  possessed  by  the  life  of  the 
Holy  One,  it  will  as  certainly  appear  as  the  idiosyn- 
crasy of  your  character,  which  underlies,  molds 
and  fashions  your  every  gesture. 

(2)  Moreover,  Christianity  is  Consecration  to 
Christ.  It  may  be  questioned  if  we  have  a  right 
to  call  ourselves  Christians  unless  we  regard  Him 
as  our  Judge,  our  Lawgiver,  and  our  King,  and  are 
deliberately  obeying  and  serving  Him.  But  if  we 
are  going  to  reserve  our  religion  to  certain  days, 
places,  and  actions,  we  necessarily  exclude  Him 
from  all  that  is  not  contained  within  the  fences  we 
erect.  If  it  be  measured  by  days,  we  exclude  from 
the  government,  and  therefore  the  peace,  of  Christ, 
at  least  six-sevenths  of  our  time.  Does  the  owner 
of  a  slave  expect  his  ownership  to  be  curtailed  and 
narrowed  after  this  fashion?  Would  he  consider 
that  he  was  receiving  the  value  of  his  purchase- 
money,  which  he  had  paid  down  for  the  exclusive 
and  unceasing  rights  of  proprietorship?  And  what 
right  have  we  to  suppose  that  our  Master  Christ 
will  be  satisfied  with  an  arrangement  which  asks 


152  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

Him  to  accept  a  part  for  the  whole,  a  composition 
for  the  entire  debt? 

(3)  Then,  also,  the  needs  of  the  world  demand 
an  entire  and  unbroken  religious  life.  The  world 
does  not  see  us  in  our  religious  exercises,  whether 
in  our  private  retirement  or  our  public  worship.  It 
has  no  idea,  therefore,  of  the  anguish  of  our  peni- 
tence, the  earnestness  of  our  desires  for  a  righteous 
and  noble  life,  the  persistency  of  our  endeavors. 
And  if  we  do  not  give  evidence  of  our  religion  in 
our  dealings  with  matters  that  the  men  of  the  world 
understand,  they  will  naturally  and  rightly  consider 
that  religion  is  an  unpractical  dream,  the  child  of 
superstition  and  emotion.  We  need  to  witness  to 
the  world,  where  its  paths  intersect  ours,  and  in 
regard  to  matters  it  can  appreciate.  If  we  are 
found  to  be  more  patient,  truthful,  honest,  than 
other  men;  if  our  integrity  can  only  be  accounted 
for  by  causes  beyond  our  ken — then  the  children  of 
this  age  will  be  prepared  to  acknowledge  that  we 
have  come  into  contact  with  sources  of  life  and 
strength,  which  are  clearly  realities,  but  of  which 
they  know  nothing. 

For  these  reasons,  we  should  refuse  to  maintain 
the  false  distinction  between  things  that  are  sacred 
and  those  that  are  secular.  There  are  right  and 
wrong  things  in  the  world.  The  wrong  ones  are, 
of  course,  to  be  fenced  out  of  our  lives;  but  all 
right  ones  are  sacred.  Everything  that  may  be  done 
at  all,  may  be  done  to  Christ,  and  in  being  done  to 
Him,  is  rendered  holy.     The  hostler  with  his  horses, 


MILLENNIAL  AGE,  AND  THIS.  153 

the  servant  with  the  vessels  of  her  household  service, 
the  clerk  with  his  pen,  the  mechanic  with  his  tool, 
the  guide  with  his  alpenstock,  the  artist  with  his 
camera,  may  realize  that  those  mystic  words  are 
graven  on  his  forehead,  and  on  the  instrument  of 
his  toil.  And  each  one  of  us,  on  entering  the  work- 
shop of  his  life,  may  feel  that  he  is  serving  God 
there  as  much  as  if  he  were  entering  the  shrine  of 
some  holy  temple,  and  were  called  to  minister  at 
God's  altar.  The  pots  and  vessels  may  be  looked 
on  as  though  they  were  the  vessels  in  which  the 
victim's  blood  was  collected  as  it  flowed  from  the 
sacrificial  knife. 

II.  There  may  be  the  Inclusion  of  many 

THINGS  WHICH  ONCE  SEEMED  SeCULAR^  IF  WE  CAN 

Consecrate  them  to  Christ. — The  Jews  were 
forbidden  to  own  horses.  With  a  tear  in  his  voice, 
the  sacred  chronicler  records  it  as  a  sign  of  Solo- 
mon's degeneracy  that  he  brought  horses  up  out  of 
Egypt.  Horses  were  associated  with  the  pride  and 
pomp  of  kings,  and  savored  of  the  arm  of  flesh, 
therefore  they  were  prohibited.  ''Some  trust  in 
chariots,"  said  the  psalmist,  ''and  some  in  horses; 
but  we  will  remember  the  name  of  the  Lord  our 
God."  But  here  they  are  specially  accepted  and 
acknowledged.  They  are  included  in  the  prophet's 
anticipation  of  the  blessed  future.  But,  notice. 
Holiness  to  the  Lord  is  now  engraven  upon  the 
bells  that  make  sweet  music  as  they  move. 

What  a  graphic  and  significant  manner  of  teach- 
ing one  of  the  profoundest  lessons! 


154  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

Judaism,  with  its  special  days,  places,  and  men, 
had  its  part  in  the  religious  training  of  the  race. 
It  was  the  kindergarten  of  human  childhood;  but 
when  we  become  men,  we  put  away  childish  things. 
Probably  every  life,  in  its  earliest  stages,  must  be 
fenced  and  partitioned  off  from  things  which,  how- 
ever innocent  in  themselves,  are  prejudicial  to  its 
development.  It  was  impossible  for  God  to  teach 
men  what  holiness  meant,  save  by  this  process  of 
prohibition,  of  separation,  and  of  setting  apart. 
But,  when  the  lesson  was  fully  learned,  the  Levitical 
code  was  abolished,  and  Jesus  came,  saying,  "It 
was  said  to  them  of  old  time ;  *  *  *  but  /  say 
unto  you."  The  horses  which  might  not  be  used, 
came  to  be  as  much  in  vogue  as  the  bowls  of  the 
altar  or  the  household  vessels,  and  to  bear  upon 
their  harness  the  significant  sentence  that  gleamed 
aforetime  on  the  forehead  of  Aaron  and  his  sons. 

In  the  middle  ages,  saintly  souls  dreaded  to  enter 
the  sacred  relationships  of  home,  and  thought  that 
the  babble  and  prattle  of  babes,  and  the  love  of  wife, 
were  inimical  to  their  highest  interests.  But  they 
sadly  misread  Christ's  meaning;  they  forgot  that 
He  sat  at  Cana's  feast;  they  failed  to  understand 
that  nothing  included  in  God's  original  creation 
could  be  common  and  unclean.  It  is  a  more  excel- 
lent and  Christ-like  way  to  follow  the  dictates  of 
nature  and  of  the  heart,  only  with  the  resolve  and 
purpose  that  human  love  should  be  a  chalice  full  of 
the  Eternal  and  the  Divine,  and  that  on  the  most 


MILLENNIAL  AGE,  AND  THIS,  155 

intimate  relationships  of  life  "Holiness  to  the  Lord" 
should  be  inscribed. 

So  with  recreation.  It  is  not  wrong  to  unbend 
the  bow  in  manly  games,  that  develop  the  sinews 
and  expand  the  lungs,  or  to  join  in  the  pastimes 
of  your  age  and  companions,  so  long  as  you  can 
write  on  bat  and  football,  on  lawn  tennis  bat  and 
piano,  on  oar  and  paddle,  on  skate  or  sleigh,  the 
words  of  the  High  Priest's  frontal.  Holiness  to 
THE  Lord.  Whatever  you  cannot  pray  over,  refuse 
to  touch.  Whatever  you  cannot  make  a  matter  of 
prayer  and  consecration  is  legitimate.  Every  thing 
is  good,  and  not  to  be  refused,  which  can  be  received 
with  thanksgiving;  for  it  is  sanctified  by  the  Word 
of  God  and  prayer. 

The  same  rule  applies  to  the  enjoyment  of  nature, 
of  art,  of  music,  of  beautiful  objects,  whether  sculp- 
tured or  carved,  photographed  or  painted.  True 
holiness  does  not  consist  in  bare  walls,  and  hard 
seats,  and  a  dingy  environment;  but  in  all  that 
resembles  God's  work  in  nature,  which  is  exquis- 
itely beautiful,  whether  it  be  the  creepers  that  change 
to  crimson  in  the  autumn,  or  the  enameling  of  the 
rocks,  or  the  tesselated  floors  of  the  w^oodlands,  or 
the  silver  features  of  the  stars. 

Take  the  horses  into  the  economy  of  your  life; 
only  see  to  it  that  the  memory  of  "Holiness  to  the 
Lord"  recurs  to  you  at  every  movement  of  their 
arching  necks. 

(3)  Let  us  note  that  there  must  be  an  elevation 
of  all  life  to  the  level  of  our  sacred  and  religious 


156  THE  PROPHET  OF  HOPE. 

moments.  It  would  be,  of  course,  possible  to  oblit- 
erate the  distinction  between  sacred  and  secular  by 
treating  all  as  secular ;  but  this  would  be  a  desecra- 
tion of  our  life  indeed.  The  process  is  not  one  of 
leveling-down,  but  of  leveling-up.  The  Lord's 
house  must  be  established  ''on  the  top  of  the  moun- 
tains," and  all  nations  are  to  flow  to  it.  It  is  not 
that  the  priest  is  to  take  off  his  sacred  emblem  when 
he  enters  the  sanctuary;  but  that  he  is  to  put  it  on 
when  he  goes  to  the  stable  to  mount  his  horse.  It 
is  not  that  the  bowls  of  the  altar  are  to  be  ejected 
from  their  sacred  office  there ;  but  that  common  ves- 
sels— "every  pot  in  Jerusalem  and  Judah" — is  to  be 
treated  with  equal  regard.  It  is  not  that  the  sanc- 
tuary is  to  be  abolished;  but  that  all  other  places 
are  to  become  oratories  for  prayer  and  shrines  for 
holy  service.  It  is  thus  that  we  are  able  to  dwell  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  our  life. 

We  cannot  make  all  time  sacred  unless  we  set 
apart  special  hours  and  days  for  God.  We  cannot 
carry  the  spirit  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion  among 
our  fellows,  unless  we  often  enter  into  our  closet 
and  shut  the  door,  and  pray  unto  our  Father,  who 
is  in  secret.  We  cannot  do  all  tasks  to  the  glory 
of  God,  unless  we  have  mountains  of  transfiguring 
prayer.  We  cannot  read  all  books  and  papers  in  a 
religious  spirit,  unless  we  are  loving  and  systematic 
Bible-students.  We  cannot  use  ordinary  vessels  as 
though  they  were  the  bowls  of  the  altar,  unless  we 
handle  the  bowls  of  that  altar,  which  is  in  the  pos- 
session of  all  holy  souls,  who  do  not  serve  the  taber- 


MILLENNIAL  AGE,  AND  THIS.  157 

nacle.  "Wherefore,  forsake  not  the  assembling  of 
yourselves,  as  the  manner  of  some  is";  *  *  * 
and,  "Remember  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy." 

So  many  bells  ring  out  in  our  lives.  The  morn- 
ing wakening  bell,  and  the  school  bell;  the  work 
bell  for  the  mechanic,  and  the  shop  bell  for  the 
assistant;  the  visitors'  bell  on  one  side  of  the  door, 
and  the  tradesmen's  on  the  other ;  the  wedding  bells 
with  their  merry  peal,  and  the  funeral  bells  with 
their  sorrowful  monotone;  the  bicyclist's  bell  warn- 
ing the  foot  passenger  on  to  the  pavement,  and  the 
bells  on  the  sleigh  horses,  as  they  draw  the  vehicle 
over  the  frozen  snow.  To  many  of  these,  in  times 
past,  we  have  given  a  lethargic,  listless,  and  indolent 
response;  we  have  resented  their  intrusion  on  our 
slumbers  and  plans;  we  have  chafed  against  their 
peremptory  summons.  But  enough  of  this.  Hence- 
forth, let  us  hear  in  their  clangor  or  chime  the  call 
of  God  to  the  tasks  to  which  He  summons  us;  let 
us  obey  with  alacrity,  looking  to  Him  for  grace 
and  strength  to  do  whatever  He  would  have  us  do, 
and  realizing  that  on  each  the  inscription  of  Aaron's 
frontal-piece  is  engraven, 

"HOLINESS  UNTO  THE  LORD." 


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